Dawn By Fire
by Ragescyther
Summary: I've never been favored by Lady Luck. When I came to this universe I thought I'd wind up on the Citadel, get amazing powers and join Shepard's crew. None of that happened. I woke up on Omega and got taken as a slave by a sadistic Batarian. Surviving in this universe won't be easy, especially if you start from the bottom. But I will climb my way out of this abyss. S/I. ABANDONED
1. Chapter 1, Judgment

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect; it is the property of its respective owners: EA and Bioware. I however do own myself.

**A/N: Well the first chapter, it's a rewrite hopefully better than the first. **

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The roar of the subway was all I could hear. The train never stopped in its unrelenting push forward. I could see the driver but all I actually cared about was getting up and trying to survive. It all started off as a normal day…

Chapter 1: The Normal Day

Waking up I quickly: brushed my teeth, changed my clothes and walked outside. I had an annoying chemistry lecture in the morning, with an even worse professor.

Taking a deep breath I shuddered, it was a typical cold winter in Canada. I mulled over checking the temperature on my phone, but it wasn't really an issue. I'd be arriving at the station soon.

Turning on Ossington I quickly jogged over to the subway terminal. Once I entered inside I savoured the warm air for a while. Pulling out my phone I checked the temperature, negative ten degrees.

Scanning my TTC card through the slider I quickly went downstairs. First I would need to move eastbound get off at station. A simple route and a rather quick one, just the way I preferred.

I looked around for my friends, finding none I pulled out my phone. I started to check any emails, finding none; I opened up my news feeds. Let's see: Mayor Ford still holds his office, tensions with Iran and Israel rising, Canada finally condemning Israel for building settlements, new Babylonian artifact at the ROM and Mass Effect project X.

I was part of the majority when it came to the Mass Effect endings. They irked me quite a bit and I hoped to whatever deity they'd be fixed.

"There has been a delay; the subway will be several minutes late!" I flinched as a voice blared from the speakers. Horrible quality, if the city could afford to buy new trains I wondered, why they weren't able to get nice speakers. Ones that didn't make me want to tear my ears out.

I sighed in frustration. Today I had an important lecture, but I couldn't really do much now. I leaned against the wall and let my eyes wander about the terminal.

I saw a homeless man: shaggy beard, dirty clothes and begging for money. A typical scenario, it was odd that he wouldn't go get an actual job? But, begging would pay more than any job he'd be able to find. The world was a messed up place, hard workers get paid less than beggars.

The ground shook slightly and the distinct sound of a subway turning could be heard. Everyone walked just up to the yellow safety line.

"Stop she's getting away!" a voice suddenly shouted. Turning around quickly, I saw a girl jumping down the stairs. She landed gracefully and continued moving undeterred by the jump, one which would've damaged my legs. Her black hair whipped behind her as she ran perfectly fine. Tucked under her shoulder was a small box.

Behind her to my surprise was the federal police, the RCMP. Three officers, the one leading the run was halfway down the stairs and pulling out his gun. Realizing this was as serious situation my body froze up.

Then she looked directly at me, her vibrant green eyes. They burned into me with an unknown anger. She was headed directly towards me in a full sprint; I was the one between her and freedom.

"Stop her!" the officer yelled again followed by a gunshot. The concrete flew apart just where her foot was a second ago. Several more shots followed, all of them missed. She was faster than the aim of the officers. The shots served to cause chaos in the station, people started to scream, but they also jolted me awake.

"Stop her!" the officer repeated again and I acted. I dropped my bag and spread my legs to balance myself then spreading my arms, I was ready to catch her. Her eyes narrowed at my stance, her run changed very slightly as she pointed her shoulder in my direction.

My heart started to beat faster as it pumped adrenaline into my system. Definitely the first time I was in a situation like this, it had only started and I wasn't enjoying it.

She barreled into me with her shoulder digging it into my chest and her elbow right into my stomach. I let out a gasp of air, the pain hit me hard. I had never been elbowed so hard in my stomach; it felt like my organs had been knocked around.

I was pushed aside but, I quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist. Pulling at it she stumbled back, using the momentum she turned around punching me in the face. My cheeks were pushed against my teeth and the retainer on them. The metal dug into my cheeks drawing blood and filling my mouth with its coppery taste.

I stumbled back right into two officers, they actually pushed me forward not wanting to slow down. Stumbling forward off balance I nearly fell into the ground, instead I barrelled into her. Both of us fell onto the tracks, me on top of her.

Reacting quickly she gave me another punch, this one hurting as much as the one before. Spitting blood I tried grabbing her shoulders but, she swiped my hands away and punched me in the chin sending me off her. I had bitten my tongue in the process and it was never a pleasant sensation, especially if your bite drew blood.

She stood up and jumped onto the divider between the oppositely running tracks. She was gone from my view as I struggled to get up. My eyes caught site of the box, it had opened up in our scuffle and in it was an amulet. It was a sword with a winged hilt, silvery blue in colour and utterly mesmerizing.

I reached out to grab it, as soon as I did the tracks violently shook. Looking up the subway roared towards me, I could hear its emergency brakes screeching loudly. Still no matter what it did I was going to get hit very hard.

It was an indescribable feeling; every part of my body was crushed. My bones were grinded into dust, nerve endings sending desperate final messages to my brain. The pain was very sharp and ended just as quick. The last thing I heard was screaming and a train stopping.

Slowly I could feel my body; there was a sense of numbness weighing down on my limbs. Blearily I opened my eyes and found myself staring at a concrete floor. Suddenly I snapped my head up and looked around in shock.

"I-I'm alive," I muttered in shock, my entire body was shaking. I couldn't really believe what had happened, my mind tried to wrap its head around what happened.

"Oh my god!" I heard a man yell. Turning around I saw people staring at the train in horror. With a sense of foreboding I turned around. The subway had stopped, the people inside were panicking. Then I stood up and moved forward to get a better view of the train.

I nearly wretched upon the site; blood was smeared over the train and the track. Alongside it there was an arm on the track. With horror I realized it was my arm, immediately I felt bile rise up in my throat. I fell on my back and could only sit there in shock

"Clear out!" one of the officers shouted as he got onto the platform. He walked past me completely ignoring me. "HQ we have a casualty and the suspect has escaped Ossington station," he said pulling out his radio. The other officers quickly pushed the other people away. They never approached me as if I wasn't there…

I wanted to deny the possibility, but it was right in my face. It felt nothing, just a cold and empty. I was dead, killed by a subway train, trying to help the police restrain a criminal.

"You finally accept it," a voice spoke, coming from all directions. It had a majesty to it I had never felt, pure power and wisdom could be felt from that sentence alone. "Fret not child, death is merely a door to your next life," I turned around and could only look on in awe.

A fifteen foot tall armoured angel floated before me. A suit of golden blue armour covered every inch of the body, pure white wings gently swayed in the air behind it. It stared at me with glowing yellow eyes beneath its helmet.

"I am Alcadeias, The Lord Of Sprits," he introduced himself. He spread his hands; each had a halo on them, with a glowing ball of light in the centre. A gust of wind spread through the area and in a flash the scene around us vanished.

Now both of us floated in a nebula in space. The sight was mesmerizing: stars all around us, colourful gas clouds and the arc of the Milky Way standing proud. Oddly I could still breathe and stood on what appeared to be an invisible solid surface.

"When you died the amulet was also destroyed. I thank you for freeing me." I suddenlt felt a weight in my hand and saw the amulet. "The amulet prevented me from intervening in the world."

"W-what are you?" I stammered out.

"I am a guide to souls in search of a new life, ones such as yours," he explained, I could only dumbly nod. "I shall guide you to your new life, one much richer than this one." I almost felt insulted at the statement.

But all of this did sound out of this world. Here I was standing in space talking to a godlike being, about my new life. It was almost like a dream-

"I assure you it isn't" He said, again I looked at him amazed.

"Guess you really are a god then…" I muttered feeling odd talking to him.

"Indeed we are, so what is your choice child?" he asked gazing down at me. Those yellow eyes piercing my mind, I could hide nothing from him. To him reading minds was natural.

A second chance did sound very appealing to me. The life I had just lived wasn't full of excitement. I was just one guy in a world of seven billion.

"Where will I be reborn?" I asked him.

"A different reality if you will" he stated and after a pause spoke up again, "There are infinite possibilities that exist in the multiverse."

"Do it get to choose where I go?"

"You have two choices, either be reincarnated on Earth, or go into another reality with your memories intact."

"So it will be a random one then?"

"Yes," he said, I didn't really know what to do. But if I died in that world I'd be allowed to go to another dimension. "Do you accept going into a different universe?"

It didn't really matter to me. Life had been boring on Earth, and it needed much needed excitement. Even if I died I'd be back here anyways.

"I accept" was all I said as I stood up and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Very well, you will retain your current form but be in: another time, place and universe." With that the halos on his arms glowed brightly, so bright I could only see white. A weightless sensation overtook me and I felt my body shoot upwards.

I felt a sense of release, as if a chain had been taken off my soul. Then something else attached to me, like an anchor to the new universe. Soon I felt nothing and saw nothing.

"Good luck Khan, I will watch but not intervene"

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**A/N**

**First story on this site and hopefully not that bad. Would appreciate reviews.**

**This chapter is a rewrite. I will be rewriting several of them to increase their overall quality. **

**Have a great day : ]**


	2. Chapter 2, The Dawn

**A/N **

**Have received 2 reviews and so far very happy. **

**Ollie could you give me a proper account name so I can contact you?**

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Chapter 2: The Dawn

I felt myself hit something hard, something very hard.

Pain flooded my entire body. It was the slow throbbing type of pain, the one I hated the most. Short stingy kind was fine but not this crap. I tried to move my body; it immediately ignored my brain's order and stayed put.

Move dammit! I urged but still nothing, my limbs lay on a smooth metallic surface. It was hard to make out anything else about it the pain blocking most of my receptors, and the fact that I couldn't even feel my face; my eyes kind of didn't help me see.

All I knew was that I was on my back. Nothing else, I was here in God knows where waiting for somebody to mug me.

Suddenly I paused in thought, wait god…Fuck! Alcadeias that angel thing! He sent me to some other universe! Where the hell did he send me and doesn't he know how to properly transport people, or at least not involve it with me lying on in the middle of somewhere!

My right leg suddenly kicked up into the air. The feeling was liberating and very painful at the same time. It felt like a muscle stretching too much than going back into place, slowly. It fell to the ground like a brick but the pain started to subside in both legs.

Groaning I rolled over to my side. Bad move I thought as my left arm was crushed under my body. Pushing myself up I sat in a slouched position.

My eyes, I still wasn't able to open them. Sighing in frustration I brought my hand to my face and started to stroke my small beard in thought.

Eyes not opening and in another universe at least I still have my clothing, wouldn't want to wake up naked. Well better stand up at the very least.

I was luckily able to find a wall nearby using it as support I pushed myself up. With a grunt of effort I forced my muscles to unfold. Slowly but surely I was able to push myself into an upright stance.

I pressed my forehead against the cool wall, made of the same metal as the floor. I felt my eye twitch in response and they opened up.

First thing I see when I arrive in another universe was a copper coloured floor beneath me with my smelly joggers planted on them. Curious I looked up and found the same copper on the walls and well there was no roof, only blackness. I looked around and found myself in an alley of some type. To one end was another wall to the front of me it turned to the left and the right.

Left or right? I thought while I moved my limbs around getting the blood flowing through them. Twisting my neck around and blinking a few times rapidly I started to trudge forward.

I turned left and continued to walk down the grim alleyway. The floor looked weird; it had these vents on it, about every three paces. The alley was lit by white lights they still didn't make the red coppery theme of the place diminish.

Looking straight ahead I could see a light. Walking a bit faster I arrived by a dumpster of sorts. It was also made of metal and surprisingly not that smelly. Back home every dumpster smelled like, I guess manure would be an appropriate term.

Wait home, suddenly I stopped moving and looked down at my feet. Sadness welled up in me, I wasn't home anymore, not in Toronto, not in my neighbourhood, my apartment in with my family…

I stayed silent mulling over the fact that I had died and now was in another universe. Guess they've had my funeral by now or maybe they've been told I'm dead.

"Shit" I said as I sat down and pulled my knees close to myself. I'm dead, dead with a capital d and I had the chance to go back yet I threw it away. Granted I would have been a cripple but still. A knot started to from within my throat threatening to break loose.

I never considered myself to be the crying type. I was always the one who stayed quiet and stonewalled his emotions. It made me look weak, controlling your feelings was a sign of manhood wasn't it? I asked myself as my vision grew blurry slightly. My tears, I thought as I wiped my eyes in my forearm.

Control, you need to control yourself, survival is priority, I need to find a secure place to gather my thoughts not in this stupid alley! I blinked away the tears and quickly stood up. Besides anyone would have taken this chance right? I asked myself.

I quickly jogged to towards the end of the alley. I mean living as a cripple would hurt my family more in the long run. Dad wasn't the most well off, but the government would pay most of the costs, universal health care. No the psychological damage to the family would be worse. They would have to cater to all of my needs and I'd just ruin their life.

"Who would want to live their life as a cripple…" my words trailed into silence as I exited the alley. My eyes widened as they took in the site in front of me. The scene looked as though it were ripped right out of blade runner. Massive skyscrapers were in front of me at least several kilometres long. They oddly came down from the roof of all places. Was I underground? In the distance I could see lights moving across the place building to building some out of my sight. The sea of light had paralyzed me on the balcony as I stood.

The place tugged on my memory slightly but I couldn't identify it. I walked forwards and placed my hands on the railings and looked around mesmerized.

Questions blazed through my head; how could buildings so large be anchored to a ceiling? Were those lights in the distance vehicles? Where did the red hue come from? And most importantly.

"Where the hell am I?"

Knowing I couldn't answer the question I looked around and found myself on a balcony. To my right was a stair case that went down. I looked back up at the skyline; this definitely was not my universe. I did like to think our skylines were impressive but nothing compared to this oddly frightening subterranean city, or whatever it was.

I walked down the stairs looking at the scene in front of me the entire time. The stairs turned away from the buildings and into the structure I was on. Tearing my eyes away from the cityscape I took a breath and walked down bracing myself for any new discoveries.

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After several minutes of going down the stairs I had oddly enough encountered nothing. Just more stairs and occasionally another alley, if lucky then a plant or two. I couldn't recognize them but I was hardly an expert in plants.

My ears twitched as footsteps echoed across the walls, several. Tensing up I froze. First contact better be ready, don't want to make a bad impression on this universe.

I took a tentative step forward and eventually turned the corner. Seeing nobody but the entrance to a street of some sort I walked forward and entered the street.

It opened up to the cityscape but that wasn't what caught my attention there was a pair of two individuals one was a human but the other. My mind shut down not comprehending the situation in front of me.

"An Asari" I muttered to myself my eyes locked on her. The human a reasonably tall bald guy looked like your typical bouncer, he had his arms around the Asari's waist. Yes a blue skinned alien with the head scalp, the same thing from the Mass Effect video game series.

The guy then looked at me. I shifted my gaze and he was not amused. I quickly paled, did he think that I was sizing up 'his' Asari?

I quickly looked towards the ground and started to walk in the opposite direction to them. But as soon as I passed by him I felt a strong hand grab my arm and pull me. Panicking I yanked my hand forward and broke free of the grip. Turning around I faced the guy.

"Look man I'm sorry" I said to him hoping he would let me go. It was always best to not get too aggressive with these burly types, they liked thinking they had control. Well in this case he does have control, fitness class did not go much into self-defence.

His expression didn't change, "You think I'll accept a sorry! You looked at my gal like a rapist and you think that I'll leave ya alone!" he started to shout a southern accent in his voice.

I raised my hands in a gesture of placation. "Calm down bro, it's just my first time off Earth and you know first time I've seen an Asari" I hastily replied. The Asari looked very amused at the scene she stood off to the side.

The man's expression changed slightly not as angry as before more annoyed now, "Well I'll give it to ya, you do look like your off some old reserve with that clothing, go on scurry off!" he shooed at me.

Not waiting for a further reply I shouted a quick 'thank you' and left. I quickly ran down the street and to my horror and surprise, I saw a Turian, Humans, Salarians and Batarians talking to each other as if it were a normal occurrence.

How the hell was I even in the Mass Effect universe it was only supposed to be a game of all things, and why here? I looked around me the red lighting the dirty street's ruffed up looking denizens. Is it really? No it couldn't be. No not that place, what did I do to fall on this god forsaken rock, wasn't the Citadel a better place Alcadeias! I screamed in my mind, hoping he would answer. No reply as expected he said he wouldn't intervene.

I jogged forward ignoring all the odd glances in my direction most of them landing on my clothing. Finding a small alley I quickly went inside and hid behind a dumpster. This is like a very badly written fanfic, me a normal guy plucked out of my universe and dropped off on Omega of all the places in the galaxy. Omega the capital of the lawless Terminus systems, the place where nothing was illegal as long as you paid Aria tribute. One of the most dangerous places in the galaxy and I'm right in its center.

A headache instantly hit me. I stayed there for a time coming to terms with the fact that I was not somewhere safe. I was a piece of meat in a lion's den. I peeked out into the alley and saw a Salarian walk by. Quickly moving back in I sighed. I really was on Omega and there was nothing changing that the only way I could leave would be by suicide, not an option naturally.

I walked back into the street placing my hands in my jackets pocket. Not the Citadel like in other fanfics but Omega and I will have to try very hard if I want to survive, no be forced to survive. At least I have knowledge of the games. What year was it? I looked around hoping to find a terminal. Finding none I pulled out my phone from my pocket. On it there was no signal and the date hadn't changed, it was still, December the 18th 2012. Guess I would have to ask someone.

Looking around I spotted a human at a counter, there was a sign which read, John's coffee house? All I saw was a counter with a dozen or so chairs on the side underneath a roof. Several of the chairs were filled, two Turians, one Batarian and a Human. Trying not to stare at the Turians I walked up to John.

"Um, excuse me sir?" I asked placing my hands on the counter.

John stopped cleaning a mug and gave me a smile, "Hello there kid, would you like some of John's famous coffee?" he asked.

"Well, not right now but could you answer a question I have?" I replied feeling bad for wasting his time.

His smile didn't leave his face, "Of course, you new to Omega?"

I gave him a nod, he was a good salesman befriend the customer and they're more likely to return. "Yeah, I was wondering do you know the date?"

"Why not check you omni-tool kid?" he asked confused, suddenly I felt very stupid even though it wasn't my fault I didn't have an omni-tool.

"Well I lost mine" I lamely replied, hoping he would just answer my question.

"Well the human time is, December 18th 2180" he said checking the omni-tool. It looked pretty awesome, he glanced at his arm and it instantly appeared, his wasn't orange but blue instead. I couldn't see much else even though the geek in me wanted to just steal it.

2180, that leaves around 2 years before 2183 and the start of Mass Effect, guess Alcadeias actually thought this through.

"Thanks a lot, John is it?"

He gave a hearty laugh, "Nah, I'm his brother Ed" I just gave him a nod and a shy smile, feeling at ease around him, but my head still told me to keep my guard up.

"Why not have a free drink on the house?" he said ignoring my protest and quickly went about preparing the coffee. While he prepared it I looked at the Turians. They really did look avian and oddly not that frightening. The light reflected off one's exoskeleton while the other skin didn't reflect it. One of them had facial markings, the Omega symbol.

"And here you go" Ed announced pulling out a spoon and dipping it into my coffee and taking a sip. "The best coffee on Omega!" he exclaimed.

I grabbed the cup, it was made of some sort of plastic the cup wasn't that hot but a comfortable warmness filled my hand. I sat down on the stool in front of the counter.

"So why come to Omega kid?" Ed asked wiping the counter, acting like a bartender; oh I looked behind him and saw several beers.

"Not my plan the only way I could have left Earth" I lied easily, and took a sip and the warm liquid entered my body, warming it up.

"So the allure of the galaxy was too much to resist eh?"

"You could say that."

"But I have to ask kid what type of clothing are you wearing" he said as he stopped cleaning and leaned on the counter looking at my clothes.

I looked at myself and my jacket was still there with my jeans, "I'm a little old fashioned, raised away from the cities."

"Well you better be careful your clothing looks very old" he then leaned in and whispered into my ear, "It is very expensive and that Batarian over there has not stopped looking at you ever since you've come"

I glanced to my side and the Batarian was looking at me couldn't tell from which of his 4 eyes, it was enough to have the hair on my neck stand up.

I looked at him, even though I tried to restrain it worry managed to show on my face.

"Don't worry, just get to the afterlife district as soon as possible, here are the coor-wait you don't have an omni-tool."

He then sat still for a moment as I quietly sipped my coffee and I occasionally discreetly glanced back at the Batarian. The Batarian then shifted and whispered into the ear of the human nearby who looked at me and gave a nod.

Ed seemed to have noticed it, he quickly yanked out a bracelet with a web attached to it. "Here take my old one, the model is a few years old its dirt cheap but can let you do the basic stuff"

I grabbed it and wore the bracelet on my left arm, the webbing moved through my sleeve and wrapped around my forearm. A small beep later the omni-tool had opened up, asking for an account name. I typed in my name and a beep later the home screen opened up. The apps were arranged in a circular fashion. A message popped up then suddenly from my forearm a small hologram about 4 inches across and 3 inches tall appeared. I looked up to Ed who nodded. I accepted the message and suddenly a map icon appeared. The wire mesh was also on my finger tips and felt as though it wasn't there. When I pressed the hologram I felt a slight pressure at the tip of my finger, technology really had advanced.

"Just get to afterlife looks like those to want your antique clothing kid"

"Why are you doing so much?" I asked him, he a total stranger was giving me an omni-tool of all things, it was a very kind gesture and Ed did seem like a nice guy, his facial expression never betrayed any malice just years of experience hidden behind them.

"I was like you kid when I arrived on Omega I wanted to see the Galaxy you know get a chick and get in the big leagues", he then gestured around the shop, "Instead I'm hitting 40 and all I have is a sad coffee shop on Omega, which isn't even that good" he said giving me a sad smile.

"But why-"

He cut me off, "I don't want to see another person get ruined kid, I've helped several kids like you but you were stupid enough to wear those clothes and now you are a walking defenceless piece of around 100,000 credits kid."

The desire to help the man welled up, but I pushed it aside as I looked at the Batarian and Human who were getting up.

I looked back into the old man's eyes, he gave me a nod. I smiled grateful for his assistance.

"Never thought I'd meet a kind soul on Omega" I said and pulled out my phone from my pocket, his eyes widened seeing it. "Take it, it's a very old model old Earth company Samsung it's a Note 2 must be worth something."

He looked at me disbelieving and grasped the phone with shaking hands, "Kid this might be worth thousands and you're just giving it to me."

"Better than those fools" I tilted my head in their direction they pushed in their chairs. He placed the phone into his pocket.

"Well kid, all I can say is good luck you've made my day, but get ready for one of the wildest chases of your life" he held his hand out I gave it a shake and looked at the two of them walking towards me.

"Farewell Edward" his eyes crinkled in surprise and he just nodded. Looking at the two thugs I'd call them they were approaching me. I looked down at the stool and picked it up and hurled it in their direction. They looked at in surprise and the Human actually jumped to the side to evade it while the Batarian side stepped it and looked at the human in disgust.

Not wasting any time I quickly turned around and bolted down the street.

"After him!" shouted the Batarian. Turning around the Turians also got up, guess they were with him.

Ignoring them I kept looking straight ahead as my legs pushed me forward. Don`t know how fast Turians can run but if they are as fast as in the game I should be able to out run them and Batarians and the human should be able to keep up with me they have similar body structures.

My first hour in this universe I`ve made a friend and 4 enemies at the same time. I glanced down at the omni-tool as I quickly turned a corner as it told me to do. In front of me was a Salarian I couldn't turn around fast enough and hit it head on. Surprisingly my motion didn't slow down the Salarian fell to the side very quickly.

I looked over my shoulder he was nursing his arm, dammit why do I feel guilty, "Sorry!" I shouted, the Batarian turned the corner the first followed by the Human and then the Turians.

My heart beat sped up as adrenaline coursed through my veins, fear was present but the urge to survive overruled it. The chase was on!

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**A/N**

**So just your first contact with the aliens hopefully not rushed. **

**I will publish another chapter by Monday, if lucky two but after that there will be a slow down, University applications are a bitch. :]**


	3. Chapter 3, The Race

**A/N Sorry for the late upload. Had alot of school work to do.**

**Legion: Well, in the future the name Edward i just thought might grow old and most people just knew the short hand Ed. So when i called him by his real name which most won't he was surprised.**

**Ollie: We'll see :]**

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Chapter 3: The Race

My legs thrust me forward, they soon fell into a rhythm I was very familiar with, land, push off, land, push. In personal fitness my class was forced to run a 5 km run every other week, in between we ran 3 km runs. My slave driver of a teacher discretely turned every week into a 5 km week. It was a year long course; I was about 6 months into it when I appeared in this hell hole. Never thought I'd actually say this but, I felt glad that Mr.D was my teacher.

I was slowly gaining a lead in the run. I looked over my shoulder and the Turians were the slowest the human and Batarian faster. Good the Turians would most likely exert themselves too much and get exhausted. Pacing was the name of the game.

I glanced down at my omni-tool, it had anti-shake built into it, and the holographic screen didn't move much, in my day we didn't have this anti-shake crap! We had to steady ourselves to look at the screen! I joked to myself. It had the desired effect and my fear ebbed away slightly.

Afterlife distance, 6.6 km never actually ran that much, if you take out resting won't have the time to do that here. There was a map also displayed showing me as a cursor and a thin line told me where to go.

I looked up. Shit! A Turian! I quickly veered to the side skimming his arm.

"Watch it!" he shouted the multi tone apparent in his voice, he turned around, but wasn't able to say much more as the Batarian pushed him roughly to the side into the human who promptly fell to the ground.

Not bothering to look back anymore I looked ahead. A market place, man how cheesy could have this gotten being chased by thugs through a crowded market place, with the stalls and kiosks on the side. I headed for one of the fruit stalls, it was manned by a Salarian better knock it over. I'm sorry I repeated to myself in my head ruining some random strangers day on Omega was not something I wanted to do.

I quickly grabbed the side of the stall and yanked it over using the momentum of my movement the stall fell to the side the foreign fruits strewn all over the street. The Batarian jumped over the fruit and landed 3 meters away crouching and he gave me a creepy grin.

"Not this easily Human!" he snarled, but I was already running towards a crowd of aliens, blocking the only path. I entered the crowd and quickly found myself slowed down a great deal a mass of limbs and bodies pressed against me from all directions each one trying to create their own personal space. Too bad no one gave a crap about anyone else's space, including me. Well, reluctantly of course!

With renewed vigor I pushed any one in front of me to the side. I actually grabbed a Turian by the shoulder used my entire body weight to push him into a human. Damn, were they hard to push around, no wonder they are a strong race.

"Human!" he shouted but I had already gone deeper into the crowd. I was just making everyone else's day much worse.

"Hey! Watch it!" I think an Asari shouted as I pushed her, it, he? Don't know I'll just stick with she, to the side.

"Woah!" somebody cried as I pushed them into someone else. This time a human.

"My arm!" a high pitched voice yelled out.

"Who elbowed me?!" a human girl.

Me of course! Why would I answer that out loud when I'm being chased by a weird Batarian and a human both obsessed with my clothes.

After some very hard maneuvering through the crowd I exited them on the other side and stumbled forward, regaining my balance I looked back and two Salarians were tossed to the side as the Batarian ran out looking even more pissed, he had a cut above his upper right eye. I gave him a grin and continued running.

Why the hell was I treating this like a joke! I think I must have gone insane, yeah that sounded right. Being dumped into an alternate reality may have side effects such as insanity and being chased by a Batarian who wants my pants. My mind froze, that did not come out right.

"Man just stop! All we want is your clothes!" a voice shouted behind me a nasal like tone and lots of panting apparent. I myself wasn't that exhausted. I looked over my shoulder it was the human.

"You think I'm stupid! You just want my clothing!" I shouted at him, I actually shouted at someone in public. It felt weird; I did not shout much at people and usually remained quiet. But it did feel liberating; kind of like a lion breaking free of its cage, well take out the lion and replace it with a house cat or something. "I'm sorry bro I don't like the idea of me being naked on Omega!"

"I'll give you some of mine!". My god, did he, is he that stupid! "They might fit you!"

"Shut up Human!" the Batarian barked scaring me slightly, he sounded very intimidating. A deep voice and a thug not someone I would like to meet in an alley.

I looked at the omni-tool 6.3 km, better pick up the pace. Up front was a door with a Turian on the outside. I looked back at the map, if I cut through this building I can shave off at least half a kilometer. It was a nightclub if the Asari in that pose is any sign. My mind made I raced towards the door the Turian looked up hearing my shoes bang on the metal as I ran towards him.

He quickly got up and stood in front of the door to the club. I hope this actually works. Running up to the bouncer I clenched my fist and as I approached him I smashed my fist into his face.

"Jesus!" I shouted as pain flooded my knuckles, it was like punching a brick at full force, thankfully this brick was a little mushy.

The Turian yelled in pain as he fell back clutching his face. I looked at my fist blue blood was on it and red blood as well. Wait he has dextro blood and I'm amino… Oh crap, crap I quickly wiped it off my hand with my jacket, but a stinging sensation was already apparent. I really thought that my first punch would be much more badass than this. Not me wimping out.

The door opened and I bolted inside drawing stares from the various people around. It was my first time in any sort of club. It looked similar to afterlife except much cheaper. There were Asari strippers around but mostly on tables and not many entertaining only one guest. A more poor club guess they can only host group shows.

I looked around quickly and my Omni-tool beeped finished remapping the new route. I moved left and through a waitress. Her drinks fell down and the audible cracking of glass even if there was the awful techno music drowned it out.

"Get him! He took out your bouncer!" I heard the Batarian shout out from behind me. Turning a club full of bouncers against me. Smart move, I didn't have time to think anymore as I was forced to jump to the side as a fist flew by me.

A human had already started the fight ignoring him I grabbed the waitresses tray and smacked him in the head with it. He simple raised his hand and blocked it. Deciding I was wasting too much time I made a dash for the exit.

"Stop the human!" and other shouts along those lines filled the club. An Asari and human were making out in front of me.

"Sorry!" I shouted as I pushed them both to the side running between the two. Seeing the exit I started to sprint towards it. Until I hit a rock, a very hard rock that promptly threw me to the side and into the bar stools.

My back ached and I opened my eyes blinking several times disoriented by the throw. In front of me stood a Krogan. They looked even more horrifying in real life, the red eyes the head plate and the massive build. I did think I wet my pants right there.

My mind raced as I thought of a way to diffuse the situation. Think, think, I repeated to myself as he moved towards me with the Batarian and that stupid guy in my peripheral vision, even the two Turians.

"Those two killed a Krogan baby! And tore of the head plate carving it into a knife!" I don't know what I said but it was enough so that the entire club went silent and I was pointing at the two Turians.

"How do you know!" thundered the Krogan anger in his voice.

"I-I saw them! They s-stuck a knife under the he-" he cut me off with a roar

"Don't say that! I've heard enough!" he said as his eyes widened and turned around facing the Turians. Both of them stood still in their position I swore one of them was quivering and the others Mandibles were twitching very rapidly.

Everything was silent for a moment; most had shifted their attention to the two Turians. Only the sound of breathing could be heard even that was being kept under tight control, nobody wanted to make the first noise. The Krogan then let out a terrifying roar and charged towards the two, each one of his steps shaking the ground. As soon as he roared everyone took it as a sign to start screaming as well.

I myself grabbed a stool used it as a crutch to get up, ignoring the wetness in my pants I spun around and hurled the stool towards the Batarian. This time he himself rolled out of the way, and the Human. I nearly face palmed, he was clearly out of harms way but he turned around and jumped over a table spilling all sorts of drinks. He then fell off of it with a thump and rolled over for several meters.

"You're so stupid" I muttered to myself and quickly turned around and exited the club via the back exit. The last thing I heard before I left was a Turian scream and the same Krogan laughing. A chill passed through my body, I didn't want to know what he was doing.

The map read 5.4 kilometers if I went by the new route. It went through a crap ton of alley ways but it was faster. Taking a breath for a moment I resumed running. I heard a door snapping open.

"He's there!" the human shouted just as I entered the alley. If only I didn't reorient myself I could have escaped them! I berated myself.

The alley was narrower than the one I first appeared in but shared the same lighting. I ran down it and quickly turned left following the route. Hopefully I can lose them hear.

Left, right, right, left, right, left. For the next several minutes I turned and turned, the maze like alleys never ending. But trusting the Omni-tool I kept going. The bad thing was I could still tell that the Batarian was at my heels. His footsteps seemed to echo off the alley walls, while his partner's complaints shook the air.

"I'm tired! Do we really need those clothes!"

"Yo, dude I've still got my offer up!"

"Why are those clothes so special!"

"This is taking forever!" he shouted heavy breathing apparent in his voice. Well the more he talked while running the more exhausted he was to become. I myself had worked up a decent sweat. My jacket was very warm, too warm. I quickly patted it and pulled out my wallet placing it in my jeans I pulled off my jacket and threw it behind me.

"Take my jacket!" I yelled turning right narrowly avoiding a dumpster.

Even so far into the future there was still water leakage in the alleys. With this being a space station one wouldn't expect any, but here it was, puddles of water mixed in with spit, food and…that.

"Thanks!" the guy yelled back his voice much further behind, guess it did slow them down, good.

The distance was now 3.2 km. Still a lot left to go. My throat felt raspy and my stomach empty. Very bad combination for a run. My legs felt started to feel weak. Ignoring the burning feeling I turned left and found myself looking at a large warehouse, with the map saying go through it.

Who the hell would place a warehouse right here, I mean you need a nice open space to move stuff in and out. I quickly pushed the thought aside and ran down the stair case towards it. Running down 2-3 steps at a time my legs absorbed the shock relatively easily. In fitness class Mr. D made us run up and down the school stairs for God knows how long.

I looked behind and was flabbergasted, the Batarian jumped over the railing and into the stair well was he a parkour expert or something? The guy attempted to do the same, he was wearing my jacket, weird he also succeeded surprisingly. But his landing needed much improving.

I looked at the warehouse and saw several crates that lead to a window. Sprinting towards them I jumped onto one. They were about knee high. Easily I was crouching in front of the window. I raised my right fist, left one still throbbing slightly and punched the window. Surprisingly it just opened up, no dramatic breaking of the glass. Well wouldn't want this arm to be hurt as well, still it actually hurt.

I heard a massive stomp looking down my heart dropped, the Batarian was only several feet away. Reacting instantly I jumped into the warehouse. I landed on my shoulder but the momentum was too much. I started to roll.

It was a very narrow walkway and I almost fell off. Luckily I grabbed onto a large steel beam running the length of the warehouse before falling down. My left hand throbbed in protest, the wound still not fully healed. I shifted my body weight onto my right hand. Looking down I was 50 feet off the ground, my stomach did a backflip. I'm not afraid of heights but only if I was on a secure location.

A low rasping laugh soon filled the warehouse. Snapping my head to the right the Batarian stood at the edge of the walkway.

"Looks like you're stuck here human!" he sneered. I narrowed my eyes getting very desperate and pissed. If I don't move then I will be killed.

Need to pull myself onto this beam and get out by that other window.

"Why not be a good kid and give me what I want" he said as he started to move towards me.

Okay calm down, a one handed pull up, fitness class didn't do any of these only two handed. I gripped the steel tightly and with all my force I pulled up my body. Pain coursed through my left arm, it started to shake. No! No! I need to do this. Both my arms shook but they were no fully extended. I quickly draped my leg over the beam and looked at the Batarian a smile on my face.

"Well guess you'll have to try harder if you want my clothes buddy" I said to him my voice quivering more than I would have liked.

The Batarian just stared at me for a while and a full blown grin spread across his face creeping me out greatly.

"Your more trouble than your worth brat" he started pointing at me all four eyes settling on me. "But it will make the reward all the more worth it" he finished licking his lips sending a shiver down my spine. Suffice to say I was very scared.

Not waiting for a reply I lay down on the beam and started to pull myself towards the window. I was careful to only use my right arm, my left one started to bleed. It hurt a lot but the adrenaline numbed the pain enough for me to be able to ignore it. But the blood still made me feel queasy.

"He's there!" the human shouted the obvious. I kept on pulling myself towards the window each pull more painful than the last. My body was becoming exhausted, I was fit but not a Seal by any stretch. My legs started to feel heavy and throat very dry as I was breathing through my mouth a lot.

I could hear footsteps on a metallic surface moving rapidly. Looking down the Batarian was running towards the other ladder which lead up to the platform near my window. If he gets there I'm done for. I placed both my arms in front of me and started to pull myself. Ignoring the searing pain as more muscles in my fingers bled I kept going.

Reach out grab and pull, grab pull! After several more painful pulls I arrived at the platform. The Batarian and the human both climbed up the ladder. I pushed myself off the ground and nearly threw up when I looked at my left hand. It was covered in blood coming out from the knuckles where the skin looked shredded.

My bones moved too much and tore off the skin. Biting down the bile I kicked the window and it flew open. Did anyone bother locking them?

Looking out there was another roof a couple feet below me.

"Move faster!" the Batarian shouted to the human running towards me.

"Okay! Okay! Bro we already have this awesome jacket" he replied.

Need to slow them down, my eyes darted around and landed on a bottle. Grabbing it I hurled it at the Batarian who ducked and stumbled to the side as the glass shattered. I then jumped out of the window. I landed on my feet and tried to roll but instead just fell on my side.

Still it was only a 6 feet drop. I rolled over to my side and got up and started to jog forward majority of the strength drained in my body. My left arm throbbed as blood dripped from my knuckles onto the cold steel roof.

A roof chase exactly like the movies, but not nearly as glamorous. They make everything look too easy then again that is their job.

I heard a thud sound looking over my shoulder it was the Batarian.

I glanced at my Omni-tool, distance to afterlife 2 km, guess the warehouse cut the distance. But still why did he chase me so far.

"Do you give up?" he asked stopping several feet away from me. I looked in front an alley below and a 3 feet jump.

It would be easy to give up all he wants are my clothes. But he doesn't look normal his eyes they didn't belong to a thug they had too much malice. A 2 km sprint to afterlife, in the distance I could see the massive structure with the flames shooting into the air, lights of all kind could be seen and the techno music could be heard from here.

I should just give up, why bring me to this stupid universe. 2 years before Shepard's arrival. On the worst place in the galaxy. I really should give up.

I hung my head feeling pathetic.

The Batarian took it as a sign and had an oddly dejected look on his face. As if losing a fun game or it coming to a disappointing end.

**"Don't" **Alcadeias' voice echoed as I felt a breeze of all things go through the area. I was sure I only felt it. Space stations didn't have artificial wind systems, I think.

I heard a slight hum and looked down feeling an unfamiliar weight around my neck. It was a necklace, the same one that brought me here. It was made of stone brown dirty stone but the design was elegant. Two wings at the hilt of a small 2 inch stone blade. It felt strangely comforting.

No, I won't give up, I will survive, I will fight and I while get to Shepard!

I looked straight up at the Batarian and gave him a smirk.

"I won't give up pal" was all I said after which I turned around and ran towards the edge and jumped over landing on the other roof.

I felt re-energized as I continued to run. Jumping over the small gaps of the alleys.

I could see Afterlife all I needed was to reach it. Each jump brought me closer and closer. The Omni-tool pinged, it read 1 km.

After several jumps I heard the Batarian laugh again.

A bang filled the air and the next thing I knew was that I was falling down and my left leg burned with pain as something entered it. I instantly missed my next step and fell off the roof and into the alley landing on a dumpster back first and then onto the ground.

I let out a scream of pain and held my leg and did throw up what small amount of food I had. The skin had been ripped open at the ankle and the blood didn't stop pouring out. Pulling off my shirt I wrapped it around my leg hoping it would stop the bleeding.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" I yelled hoping somehow the wound would stop. My hands started to shake as fear gripped me. The blood didn't stop and the shirt got more drenched by the second.

My ears had a ringing sound in them and I couldn't hear anything.

"Need to survive" I muttered to myself dragging myself forward and out of the alley. Each pull left a smear of blood on the ground and added to the pain. I felt my vision go blurry. Too much blood lose dammit!

I punched the ground for no other reason than to let my anger out.

"Dammit it all to Hell!" I shouted feeling tears stream down my face. "Dammit" I choked out still trying to pull myself out of the alley.

I was pathetic, really pathetic most self inserts got a nice job in c-sec or came by a friendly face but me I'm forced to fight for my life with a stupid Batarian chasing me. Living as a cripple would have been better, I mean getting shot sucks and hurts. Mass accelerator rounds were very dangerous to exposed flesh the energy in the round tore open my flesh. Don't look at it.

Reaching the edge of the alley I found the street to be empty. My heart dropped and dread filled my body.

My eyes grew more blurry as time passed. I didn't have the strength to move any muscle in body. I let my forehead rest on the floor giving up.

They would be here any second and then kill me? Beat me? Who knows all I know is that it would involve lots of pain.

"Distance to Afterlife 400 meters" my Omni-tool chimed. How did the voice command activate?

My eyes slowly closed. I let the darkness surround me, it was strangely comforting. No pain, no hurry just a blissful emptiness.

* * *

"Are you fi.." a voice spoke out from the distance. It was muffled by something. I tried to push it away and accept the nothingness. I wouldn't have to deal with the problems if I did.

"Are you okay?" the voice asked me. Of course I was fine I was so safe here. I didn't need any help.

"Here take some me…" the voice faded away as I pushed it away. I didn't want to hear it. But the voice tried to pull me out of here.

Suddenly the place around me vanished as I felt hands grasp my shoulder and prop me up against something.

"The medi-gel should be working now" the voice said a synthetic tone to it.

I tried to move but a pair of hands pressed me back down.

"Don't move you need your wound to heal."

I opened my eyes finally wanting to see who pulled me out of that empty place. In front of me was a purple helmet with white glowing eyes behind the glass or plastic looking at me. The figure was applying some sort of gel to my leg wound and fist. The pain was going away and I could feel those limbs again.

"Quarian?" I asked my voice weak, guess medi-gel doesn't make new blood.

"Yes the name is Kenn, Kenn Nar Rayya" he answered the synthetic overtone very apparent.

Wait was it that Kenn, the one stuck on Omega with Harrot? Guess he just came here, boy was he stuck here for a long time then.

"Thanks" I replied looking around I was in the same alley strangely the Batarian wasn't here yet. He could be here any moment.

"Listen Kenn, you need to leave now" I whispered to him. "I'm being chased by a Batarian with a gun"

Kenn looked at me alarmed I think. His pupils widened as he looked around nervous.

"I can't leave you here you could get killed!" he replied. I felt glad he was a nice guy but sad that he'd get pulled into my mess.

"I'll figure out a way to-"

I was cut off by the very voice I didn't want to hear, "Run away from me" chuckled the menacing voice.

I couldn't muster the will to look up at the source of the voice I already knew who it was. It was over. Done. Finished. I Didn't join Shepard's crew. Didn't stop the Reapers. Didn't save anyone. Instead I've dragged Kenn into this mess.

I heard the clicking of a gun. "Quarian on the ground!" he shouted as Kenn quickly complied. "Place all your belongings in front of you!" Kenn took off his satchel and pulled off his Omni-tool and placed it down on the floor. I felt saddened he had such few belongings well at least more than me.

He then pointed his gun at me and stared at me for a while. Testing me? I don't know but all I could look at was the gun's barrel pointed at me. With one pull of the trigger I would be dead.

"Human! You too!" he ordered hastily I pulled off my Omni-tool out and I pulled out my wallet placing it down with my house keys and some spare change. The Batarian's eyes lit up seeing the change. I reached for my necklace but stopped and laid down on the ground alongside Kenn.

"El! Search them!" the human walked up to me and started patting my pockets and finding nothing he moved on over to Kenn with the same result.

"Nothing on them Gar" he shrugged as he picked up my wallet and examined it. Oddly he only pulled out the cash and threw all the ID cards into the dumpster.

Gar walked towards me and give me a solid kick on my ribs forcing me to roll over. I bit down the grunt of pain. He looked down at me smiling.

"A fun chase human, most just give up but you kept running and almost managed to escape" he leaned down and cupped my cheeks with his hands. A few hairs prickled my face and it felt similar to human skin except scalier. He moved his head around and moving mines to the side inspecting it.

"What do you want" I managed to say with difficulty. The Batarian smiled in response. I could tell my voice had failed me I was coming out scared of him and now he knew it.

"Just examining you" with that he moved on to Kenn and looked him over. Kenn didn't say anything but his eyes were always nervously darting from side to side.

He was scared and it was my fault. I brought him into this mess. I looked away feeling hopeless. Guess he waited on purpose to see if I would draw anyone's attention. Sick bastard. Clearly a trained mugger or whatever he was.

"They're good" he muttered to himself as he walked behind El and promptly wiped his pistol to the side of his head a sickening smack and El fell to the ground. I looked at him shocked. Wasn't he working with him?

"What the hell do you want!" I shouted out this time, hoping he would answer me.

He ignored me as he used his Omni-tool for something. Wait he's got his back turned to me this was my chance.

With a grunt I pushed myself up and charged towards Gar but just as he was turning around my leg gave away as the pain reignited. I fell down to my side with Gar looking at me amused. He walked by my face.

I looked up at him his eyes scaring me. They seemed inhuman, only looking at me as if I were nothing. He lifted his foot and kicked it into the side off my head. The pain was brief and intense but just as quickly I felt nothing.


	4. Chapter 4, The New Home

**A/N**

**Here's the 4****th**** chapter. Very hard to crank out have lots of school work at the moment but I managed. **

**RamenKnight: It is about to get very interesting :]**

**BioticStories: Thanks for the review. Poor Turians who knows what happened to them :[**

* * *

Chapter 4: The New Home

I felt myself being carried somewhere and the suddenly dropped down. My leg protested in pain. The surface was hard and uneven, it bit into my back and hurt my already weakened body even more.

"Kid get up" a voice spoke out, gruff and old distinctly human but most importantly British.

Where the hell was I? I swore I had a bad dream.

I opened my eyes and found myself to be in some sort of cell. It was very small and had several iron bars up front each about 4 feet long. I looked around and found the cell to be made out of some sort of cheap metal. It was actually rusting if the floor was any indication. To my right were bars leading into other cells. With other people and aliens in them. To my right was a Krogan sleeping he looked to be younger than most and smaller as well.

To my left was Kenn! I quickly scooted closer to him and whispered, "Kenn, you okay?"

He did not reply as he lay still. His body was still moving up, At least he was breathing good.

I then looked out of my cell to an old man on the opposite of end of the room. He was looking directly to at me. His white hair had grown past his shoulders. Couldn't make out his eyes but he was massive.

"Okay kid?" he asked.

"Don't know" I replied and then looked down at myself and noticed I was wearing some sort of rags. The clothing was lime in color and covered my entire body it looked to be very cheap in make. I then looked at my hands and to my shock they were handcuffed. I tried to pull them but the lock still held.

What the hell were hand cuffs doing on my hands!? I didn't do anything wrong did I?

"No use trying kid they won't come off without a key."

"Where am I?" I asked him as in looked around the room. It was very small with dozens of cages all around.

The old man gave a laugh that echoed across the room. "Somewhere nobody would want to be" was all he said. I looked at him in confusion but then I let my eyes wander around the place. Cages, people chained, a place nobody would want to be in? My heart suddenly felt constricted as breathing became more and more difficult. It wasn't possible, no, how the hell…

"Slavery?" was all I asked looking down at the floor feeling wretched.

"Figured it out already huh you've got some brains kid, most are too dumb", I looked up at him feeling anger was it really this normal? "You now are a salve to the Batarian Hegemony on Omega" he gestured around with his cuffed arms and finished with a grin.

Wait wasn't this Omega, "Isn't slavery illegal on Omega?"

"Of course not, as long as you pay Aria enough tribute you can do anything you want on this hellhole"

"But the eth-"

"There are no morals on Omega kid!" he cut me off with a glare, "You should know that the moment you come on this station. No one gives a shit about you"

I still couldn't accept it. All my life in Canada we were taught about the right of the individual, the right to live, the right to do what you wanted, the right to be free. But no, here all of that was worth nothing. So, the price for the stars was our humanity? No there were still good people in this galaxy, Anderson, Garrus and all the others. I just needed to get out of here and find them.

Oddly enough I gave an empty chuckle. So this was Alcadeias grand plan. Abduct a kid from his home and drop him into this dangerous world and expect him to survive. What a naive being, or was it me that was naive jumping at the opportunity to live my life somewhere else. I looked at my neck and didn't find the necklace there. So they took it. Good riddance. Didn't want it anyway. Still I did feel slight disappointment at the act it did belong to me.

"Finally accepted it" I looked at him and shook my head, he tilted his head confused.

"I…" I had trouble forming the next words saying them would mean throwing away all of my dignity. It would make all the lessons I've learned pointless. "I-I'm not a slave, only a victim of the strong" I finally said.

He stayed silent pondering my answer, "Isn't that the same?"

"No a slave accepts they are one, like you, I don't" my pride was very important to me and I wouldn't give it away so easily.

"Where you from kid?" he said after a pause accepting my answer but there sly smile still on his face.

I stayed silent not wanting to talk to him. I leaned back up against the wall and closed my eyes just trying to recollect myself. The idea of being a slave was frightening I was born free but in this galaxy anyone with more power than you could easily make you theirs as long as you were weak enough. And I was too weak...

My eyes grew watery but I ignored the tears and just took in a shaky deep breath. I may be involved in forced labor but I won't accept my slavery. Even if it only mattered mentally.

Pushing those thoughts away. Away I looked up around the place aliens of all kinds were in the prisons. They even had children. I looked past the Krogan and saw a small Turian kid. Couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. The kid appeared to be around ten years old. He or she leaned against the wall sound asleep. Good, at least the kid could find peace in a dream.

The Krogan snored loudly. In fact most people were asleep. Only me and that old man were awake.

"I get the feeling you don't want to talk kid." He said. I looked back at him. "If you want to survive this mess we'll have to work together boy why not you start with names, James you?"

I could just make up a new name on the spot. I technically don't exist in this universe. No my name is one of the only things I have, "Just call me Khan"

"Well this is enough talk you better go to sleep they'll work you to your bones tomorrow Khan" with that he laid down to his side and fell asleep.

I gave a sigh. Well there was no point in staying awake no ways of escape. Nothing.

Yawning I rolled over my right side trying to avoid sleeping on my left arm, it still throbbed slightly. I closed my eyes and imagined a better place. Somewhere on the shores of Lake Ontario looking at my city as the water gently moved in and out. In and out, in and out…

* * *

"Up! Everyone up!" bellowed a loud voice waking me up from my sleep. I didn't want to get up, I had the weirdest dream. Me in Mass Effect and captured as slave.

"Up!" the voice yelled louder this time. I raised my hand in protest but wasn't able to. I felt a smooth metal on both my wrists. Waking with a jolt I looked at my arms. The cuffs were still there, it wasn't a dream… all of it was real.

I heard shuffling around me looking to my left, Kenn slowly sat in a sitting position very dazed. Shaking my head trying to get rid of my grogginess I scooted towards Kenn.

"Kenn, you okay?" I asked him.

He looked at me and gave a small nod, "Where are we?"

I paused not knowing what to say. Would I tell him that because of me he was now a slave? Wouldn't that just ruin my chances at friendship?

"Move it!" before I could say anything the steel bars were retracted into the ground as a Batarian holding a whip gestured for us to get out. I moved out of the cage and stood up standing right beside Kenn who by the looks of it was not acclimatizing well to the situation. His head was moving around too quickly for it to be a calm movement. He was panicked.

I nudged his shoulder and he looked at me. I gave him a smile and a nod hoping he'd calm down. It did have the effect he stopped his movements and looked down at the ground.

"We are in slavery" I said feeling horrible for being the bearer of bad news. He didn't respond. Taking it as a cue I looked away. All the aliens had gathered in the center of the room. I couldn't see the old man but I did see the Turian kid nervously standing beside another Turian.

"You new here Human?" a gruff and very deep voice asked me.

I turned around and found myself face to face with a Krogan. He wasn't as intimidating as I expected. Very short for his species. He had a blue head plate much smaller than Wrex's. It looked very much like Grunt's still forming. His eyes were red and skin tone of the average Krogan.

"Y-yes" I replied hesitant, didn't want to offend him, he could still break my bones.

He just gave a nod, and then thrust out his hand, "Names Scourge"

He shook his hand oddly not as crocodile like as expected, "Call me Khan" I replied. I felt confused Krogan didn't offer handshakes to every one they'd rather head butt someone and go about their business. Maybe this one was younger than the others?

He seemed to notice my confusion and gave a grin, "Ha! I'm not like most Krogan I'll have you know." He then leaned in close to my ear, "I've learned to civilize myself" he said as though it were his greatest secret.

I gave him a timid smile in return. I was still too confused. Scourge then talked to Kenn who was just as shocked as I was. His first time meeting a Krogan, or was Scourge just too weird?

"Everyone center now!" A Batarian shouted from a balcony overlooking the area.

Everybody moved to the center of the room and stood in lines about a dozen per row with three rows. Me and Kenn quickly followed Scourge as he stood in the last row.

A Batarian walked through the door flanked by two guards both holding rifles. He let his eyes fall on all of us. When they landed on me it felt like an eternity when he finally moved over to Kenn.

"Welcome slaves! To your new home!" he started with a laugh. A sick and twisted laugh. I already hated this guy, too arrogant.

Everyone stayed silent no one wanting to speak.

"From this day on you all you newcomers belong to me" he walked up to an Asari and stroked her cheek. I looked away feeling sick.

"Talab is my name, but you all will address me as Master" then suddenly I heard a scream. Looking forward the Batarian was- I felt at loss, he was openly feeling her. The Asari looked around at all of us her eyes pleading us to help her. I couldn't Talab would most likely beat me.

"Stop it!" I heard a human voice yell out. I turned and saw it to be El the Batarians partner. Talab looked up at him. He quickly shoved the Asari into one of his guards. He walked straight up to El and then pulled out his gun. He aimed it to the person standing next to El a young girl only 14 at best.

I could only breathe in as he pulled the trigger blowing her head off. My eyes widened as the blood spurted out of her neck. I couldn't look any more and instead looked at Talab who was smiling.

"She's dead because of you Human" with that he walked out of the room escorted by his guards taking the Asari with him.

Everyone had moved away from El and the dead body. El just looked at the body in shock and fell to his knees burying his head in his hands and starting to weep. I felt empty another humans a living beings life ended so quickly as though it were worth nothing.

Whispers filled the area along the lines of poor girl, stupid Human and some sniffing.

"Khan" I heard Scourge call out. I turned around, "Ignore it" was all he said.

I felt my hands shaking in fear. "How?"

He didn't reply.

One of the other Batarians quickly gave us an explanation of our duties. They included manual labor, and pleasing the master whenever need be. They soon made all of us march out of the room and down a series of halls. Soon we found ourselves in a large warehouse.

There were crates everywhere, the lighting was horrible only several lights on the top.

We were to work here for around 16 hours and then go to sleep. Our job here was to lift the crates in and out of the warehouse to transport ships. If we were done then we would be forced to exercise for the remaining time. The Batarian explained.

"Talab's famous around Omega for having the strongest slaves and you will live up to his standard or get shot. The older slaves will teach you everything you need"

He soon ordered us to work if we tried anything funny we would be taken somewhere very unpleasant.

Me and Kenn followed Scourge towards some crates.

"Both of you look weak, doesn't matter lift these small crates and follow me" with that he picked up the largest one his muscles rippling. It had to be over 100 kilos. Krogans were strong, insanely strong.

I picked up a smaller crate and almost dropped it as my arm jolted in pain. I shifted the weight; it was about as heavy as a flour bag around 20 kilos. Kenn also lifted his with difficulty.

"We have to do this for 16 hours" he said his voice shaky.

"Of course you brats!" I looked over and saw James lifting two crates larger than ours, one under each arm. "Get moving Talab doesn't like slow workers!"

How was he able to lift so much so easily? He looked even taller than Scourge he had to be at least seven feet tall. He reminded me of Whitebeard well minus the whole earthquake at will thing.

I quickly walked behind Scourge each step not very hard to make, but my arms straining. I didn't do any bulking up in fitness class only lots of running. We walked out of the warehouse and towards a cargo bay of a ship. It was over 50 meters away.

Walking up the ramp I nearly fell down but the old man steadied me. I gave him a grateful thanks. I dropped the crate to where Scourge told me to. My arms were already burning.

"I really don't think I can do this anymore" I complained.

"Ha! Your weak human this was only your first round you'll end up doing a couple hundred a day!" Scourge laughed already down the ramp.

"How can people even survive this?" Kenn asked. His question did make sense, wouldn't most just die in the process?

"Everyone doesn't survive Talab likes to weed out the weak over half of you will end up dead" Scourge said picking up another crate.

"What's the point?" Kenn asked again, "I mean why does he need strong salves if machines can do the job faster?"

"Don't know, I think it has something to do with social standing the more slaves the better you look and you do need salve labor for certain things" he left the last part out for good reason.

Kenn stayed quiet as he picked up another crate.

I don't know how long we were at it but by now breathing was becoming a luxury. My arms felt like lead. I had long stopped counting how many crates I had carried. All I knew was that it was a lot but not enough to notice any difference in the warehouse.

The Overseers were the people making sure we did work and told us not to talk much. Soon enough all the salves fell into a rhythm slowly but surely removing the warehouse of its materials.

I did think about home a lot but, it was pointless. I was in a faraway land, a land of horror. Some slaves fell to the ground and were quickly pulled out only after forcing them to work as much as possible.

I tried to stay away from the other aliens as much as I could. Couldn't say why I just felt uncomfortable around them. Everyone stayed away from El and he himself pushed away anyone wanting to work with him.

Me and Kenn talked a little he didn't blame me for anything thankfully but still it was my fault. We dropped that conversation and then just talked about life.

"You were on your pilgrimage?" I asked he looked at me shocked. Oh, most people didn't even know about the pilgrimage.

"H-how did you know?" he asked.

"Just studied a little Quarian history when I was bored" I lied. Well he wouldn't even believe the truth if I told him.

"Well most don't know about it at all, and I was on my pilgrimage I hoped to sell old ship parts on Omega and then…" he then trailed off into silence. Couldn't blame him he was now a slave and his hopes of returning to the fleet were gone.

Scourge was also an interesting guy, surprisingly pleasant for a Krogan. He liked to think that he had controlled his savage side and had embraced civilization.

"So how'd you end up here?" he asked

"Big galaxy wanted to make some money" I replied hastily as I almost lost my grip on the crate. Quickly using my knee pushed it into a comfortable position. "You?"

He stayed quiet for a while, I couldn't tell what he was thinking, alien body language was beyond me. "I came here to be free" he quickly said and then stopped talking. Definitely a bad past.

During another round I noticed the Turian kid was having trouble with a crate. Much smaller than mine but still a lot for a child. I walked over to the kid and lifted the crate out of the kid's small hands, trying to hide my exhaustion succeeding to some extent.

"Don't worry" I said as I turned around and walked over to my crate and pilled it on top of it. Scourge raised what appeared to be brow but didn't say anything.

I heaved with effort as I lifted the box up. The small box on top not adding much to its weight. I walked out and with great effort managed to reach the ship. Placing it I looked at the kid resting. I felt slight warmth inside at least I managed to help a kid out, even if only slightly.

After a few more rounds I was really starting to feel weakness. My vision grew blurry and each breath hurt.

When I went a lifted another crate my fingers couldn't hold it. I looked down and realized my knuckles had started to bleed again. It hurt too much.

"Hurry up" Kenn whispered urgently to me as he lifted his up. Guess Quarians are strong or those springy legs can absorb the weight.

I looked over my shoulder and noticed a Batarian heading towards me. I reached for the crate and lifted it up. My fingers straining greatly at the pressure. I took a step forward and almost fell down.

How the hell could Scourge lift so much. My muscles felt like they were ripping apart!

"Move!" the Batarian shouted readying a long rod. Heaving I took another step and as my foot landed the place where I had been shot burned up.

Now of all times! Jesus, it still hurts, at least it wasn't bleeding.

The sweat entering my eyes made it very hard to see and made my eyes sting greatly.

I took another step and then another. Each one as so hard it felt like I was pulling a truck with my nose.

"Move it!" I could faintly hear the Batarian shout. I couldn't do it. It hurt, it hurt too much. I dropped the crate and fell to my knees and started panting.

My sweat kept on dripping onto the metal floor. As the air moved through my lungs it felt like sand paper. I started to cough but then I felt a sharp pain in my back as the Batarian wiped his rod at me. I let out a scream of pain. I can't do this, I can't…

Another smack and my back lit up. The rod burying itself into my back. Not yelling this time I blinked rapidly. I could see Kenn walking slowly up the ramp and Scourge placing his crate. I looked to my left and saw James move his lips 'You can do it'

I – I wouldn't die. I need to make it to Shepard! If Alcadeias wants me to survive I will survive! I'll show that asshole!

I let out a roar as I grabbed the crate from its sides and pulled it up swinging it around onto my shoulders. I used all my strength to run up the ramp my feet making loud bangs.

I reached the top and hurled the crate of my back and promptly fell into a wall. That felt really good, I showed him, I showed him I wouldn't die…s

"Khan!" I heard a shout

* * *

I woke up to find myself back inside my cell. My arm hurt and stomach rumbled greatly.

In front of me was a small toothpaste like thing. Was it nutrient paste?

"Eat it" I looked up the old man back in his usual spot.

I took off the lid and squeezed it in. Had no taste but still felt weird. Then I spotted the water bottle I almost jumped on it and quickly starting gulping down the water relishing the cool liquid flowing down my dry throat.

"The only thing you'll get is that paste and that bottle throw it outside Talab doesn't like people making weapons."

I looked down at the bottle, "Weapons out of this?" I asked my voice still hoarse.

"You'd be surprised what desperate people can make out of it"

I examined it further, a club? No the plastics too weak. Could tear it up and use the edges like a serrated blade.

"Don't get any ideas kid one of my mates tried it he got shot in the stomach and bled to death" James warned me. "Did take out two bastards"

I looked around and everybody was sleeping again. Kenn and Scourge slept calmly and the Turian kid as well.

"How long was I out?"

"Well you worked for about 8 hours pretty good time you were in the last 5 of the new guys, 3rd to be exact" He then gestured at Kenn, "Your Quarian friend here passed out 5 minutes after you and then a Turian about an hour later."

Never knew I could work that long. I still felt a small amount of pride at myself. Mr.D I would worship you right now, those grueling runs around the field during the hottest summer days were actually for this. Well not exactly, but you know what I mean.

"We worked for about twelve hours had a small break, and then we were forced to do some running for another hour and the last three nothing but small jobs."

"Are we doing this tomorrow?" I asked dreading the answer.

He gave a small chuckle, "Of course we are don't worry it'll get easier" he tried to reassure me. I just gave a snort. Of course slavery would get better. Maybe Talab would set us free.

"I like you kid, most would fall after the first hit" his words fell empty on my ears as I noticed one of the cells empty, the girl who got killed was in it… At least she's not a slave anymore. Stupid El trying to be a hero.

After emptying the bottle and the food tube, I threw them outside into the pile in the center of the room.

"How long have you been here?" I asked, the man knew too much and was too calm.

"Three months and I've survived the longest"

"Three months?" I almost yelled out.

"It's hard to survive here kid everyone from my batch has died you're the third one"

If this guy has survived only three months how long would I survive? I wasn't as wise as him or strong. Sensing my worry he reassured me, "Follow my orders and we'll make it" I just gave him a small nod feeling drowsy all of a sudden. "You've had a rough day kid get some sleep."

I leaned back against the wall my back hurt ignoring it I closed my eyes. My second day on Omega and I almost died hopefully tomorrow's more merciful.

* * *

**A/N**

**So yeah, I wanted to do something different and then the thought came up why not be a slave of the Batarian Hegemony. This chapter just dealt with introductions the next one will have important events occur in it. **


	5. Chapter 5, The Mark

**A/N**

**I'm really sorry for the extremely late update : [ First half I had a crap ton of school work. But the second half I have no excuses for that I'm truly sorry. But now that I've gotten into university :] I can focus much more on the story. **

**XxLegionxX: Sorry for not replying before... And thanks for the feedback. Yeah, as stated before I wanted something unique in this story so slavery it is! Also you relly like the green eyed girl don't you?**

**RamenKnight: Thanks a lot I really am trying to avoid the Mary Sue trope. Can't tell you how many times I've read a promising premise for a story only to find out a Mary sue pollutes it.**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Mark

Don't know how much time had passed. James said around two weeks; don't even know how he figured that out. The slavers work us into the ground never giving a chance to recollect our thoughts for a moment. Always seeking to preoccupy our minds with work. Lift the crates, run around the warehouse stand still for an hour just so Talab can appreciate our dedication to him.

Nearly three fourths of the slaves aren't here anymore. When they fell down they would whip them but even then most didn't get up. They were then taken somewhere, probably got sold. In the end it was just me, Kenn, Scourge, James several humans including El and some Turians including the kid. Oddly enough Talab had the 'decency' to not work a kid too hard. Didn't stop the Turian kid from being scared as hell though.

Over time several groups formed, the humans banded together oddly enough under El, the Turians stuck together and me Kenn, Scourge stayed with James. He was the most experienced out of all of us. Even then only a couple months of experience, it really made one wonder when they themselves would fall. Scourge said to not think about it too much. The advice coming from him was odd then again I learned a lot about him over the past two weeks. Said he'd lost faith in the Krogan people, he knew they were going to die so he thought he'd make a better last impression of his people by becoming civilised. Problem is: his clan didn't like it when he started to read books and attempt to write them. Taking into account he was also smaller than the average Krogan they quickly exiled him.

'More like tried to kill me' Scourge said.

Kenn himself didn't have that weird of a story. He was just on his pilgrimage and wanted to make quick money. Some Salarian told him Omega was the land of opportunity, considering he never had met one he believed him and bought the overpriced ticket. He'd just arrived from the docking bay when he saw me bleeding in the alley.

Now, James wouldn't share much about his past. Just saying he used to work in the alliance Special Forces they dishonorably discharged him when he didn't obey a suicidal order. He wound up on Omega and was stupid enough to get drunk without a buddy. Slavers quickly took him. Not after losing two of their own. He certainly looked the part; easily lifting crates even Scourge couldn't must've been his augmentations.

Today was no different from the norm. Talab forced us awake early in the morning with a bucket of cold water. Within several minutes we were off to work. It didn't hurt as much as it did before and when they noticed my bullet wound affecting my performance they applied some medi-gel to make sure I didn't break my leg. Two weeks of torturous labor did make me physically fit, but only if there were resting periods in between. You know, to regenerate your muscles. Talab only gave 8 hours of sleep, surprisingly generous.

We quickly arrived at the warehouse but the crates were all of to the side. I looked over Kenn's shoulder and saw a cross with shackles on each end to hold the arms and legs.

"What is that?" Kenn asked confused.

"Some sort of restraint don't know what for though" I replied glancing around the area. Some were looking at the ground and scratching their backs.

"It's there to make sure you don't wriggle" James spoke up stepping beside me. "You're gonna get Talab's brand on you today"

I froze, fear again building up in my gut. I really hated that sensation it had happened too much in this place. Made you feel worthless.

"What are they going to use?" I managed to ask dreading the answer.

"Hot iron" he simply stated. Instantly my back tingled as I imagined the hot iron being pressed into my back.

"W-what!?" Kenn stammered out, "If anything c-contaminated touches my skin I could die!" he shouted now.

James quickly places his hands on Kenn's shoulders and looked him directly in his eyes, "Calm down kid your skin won't be touched they don't want their slaves to die."

Kenn gave a shaky nod and started to wring his fingers together, most Quarians did that when they were nervous, hell even I was doing it! My palms had started to sweat my knees felt weak and arms felt heavy.

"Why the hell are they branding us?" a random human called out, Thomas I think.

"You're the ones who passed Talab's test" James started, "Talab always works his slaves hard and only keeps the ones who can survive his work" he finished looking around at everybody who's faces were in shock and fear.

"See we are the best!" El shouted, James' eyes instantly narrowed, "We survived where the others didn't and we'll continue to survive!" he rallied as several joined in shouting.

I quietly walked over to the side with Scourge. He sat down on a crate and looked around amused, guess he still is slightly Krogan.

"You already branded?" I asked leaning against the ones beside him.

"Of course I have" he turned to face me giving me a grin, "Too bad Krogan skin always regenerates. They tried several times each time using hotter iron, never works, ha!"

Oddly enough his deep laugh calmed me down slightly, well if he could survive several branding who is to say I couldn't survive one.

"Down Centre!" one of the guards shouted quickly we all formed our rows and columns.

Scourge to my right the Turian kid to my right. The child looked up at me eyes quivering; poor kid didn't even know what was going to happen. I gave the child a smile. The Turian stared at me for a while and was about to move his or her mandibles when the guard barked.

"Today you will be branded by Talab's famous mark! Only the best of the best get this so be proud!"

Proud of being a slave? I wasn't like El.

"Older slaves move off to the right!" several moved to the side including James and Scourge.

"We'll move left to right along the columns! Human up!"

A tall lanky man walked up and was slammed into the cross his arms and legs quickly tied his back facing us. A guard brought in a pot that glowed orange another an iron bar with some sort of mark on the end.

The man's head whipped around confused and slowly approaching hysteria.

"What's going on!" he yelled hysterical trying to wriggle free of the restraints. One guard pulled up his shirt exposing his back.

Dipping the rod into the pot the guard pulled it out. The rod glowed an eerie orange. The man struggled to no avail. The iron was pressed into his back and he gave out a horrifying scream.

"My God! Help!" he begged as the guard pressed it further in. I could see blood leaking from the skin and the sound of skin sizzling. But I couldn't move my head it stayed fix too scared to move. Soon enough they pulled the iron back and released him. The man just fell to the ground unconscious. Was the pain too much?

I took a nervous gulp as they pulled him off to the side. One by one the first row was gone then it was Kenn.

"Quarian kneel! Face Up!" Kenn followed the order. They brought a smaller rod and heated it and then pressed it in Kenn's mask. After several seconds the guard pulled it off and gave a frown. Suddenly they slammed Kenn to the ground. My mind screamed at me to go and help him but my body couldn't move.

They instantly slammed the mark into his back. Kenn didn't even utter a scream and just stopped moving. My heart dropped, knocked out at just a touch. Qurians were really fragile if exposed.

After burning through his skin they quickly applied a lot of medi-gel and some other stuff I didn't know off. They then dragged him off to the side. Kenn just lay limp along with several other people.

My gaze found James who's eyes looked like they could kill anyone. I averted my gaze and closed my eyes taking deep breaths only four more until me. Three more until the kid…

The other two went their screams brief but painful. El himself didn't even let out a single scream bastard actually seemed to be enjoying it? How the hell could someone enjoy this shit!

When the slaver was finished he stood up and let out a laugh and walked to the side grinning at us.

"Turian kid! Up!"

The child didn't move and instead looked at me. The fearful eyes boring into mine hoping that I could stop the pain about to be brought down.

"Please…" whispered the voice of a small girl, the Turian flange apparent.

I looked up at the guards and back at her, dammit never thought I'd do this.

"Brand me with her mark!" I shouted.

The guard fell silent as he looked at me and then up at the balcony. I followed his gaze and found Talab staring down at me smiling.

"Well looks like we have a hero!" he said as the Asari leaning on him laughed. Asshole was all I could think of.

He walked down a series of stairs and right up to me. He looked at me in the eye; I didn't look to the side instead looking him straight in his eye just like my father had taught me to. I wasn't going to let a child suffer because of my cowardice.

"Fine but I'll mark you in two places with my personal rod" he said as he walked to the pot two guards pushed me forward by the pot. They kicked my back and forced me on my knees. "But even one scream from you and I'm marking her" he whispered into my ear as a guard handed him his rod. He picked up the other one and kicked me in the back of the head forcing me to bend.

I looked at the Turian girl and oddly enough gave her a smile. She just looked at me in shock. Well who wouldn`t some random stranger offering to get their skin burned in place of them.

"Here we have a hero! If he doesn't scream during my two markings or pass out I will spare the girl of her fate!" Talab announced grabbing everyone's attention. Not like it was already here. "I admire people who show courage and reward them! Let's see if you actually have any!"

I heard the rod being dipped into the pot. The heat radiating from the metal could be felt already. I bit down my teeth. This really seemed like a bad idea now.

Suddenly the iron pressed into my back, the metal burning away at my skin frying my neurons. I let out a grunt but kept my teeth closed. My eyes started to water in pain as the metal burned away layer after layer of skin. I tried to keep my body still but it moved and the guards pushed me down from my shoulders keeping me still.

I couldn't bear the pain. I swore that that the iron was touching my spine! Oh God! Make it stop! I yelled in my mind. My eyes darted around and found James but he wasn't looking at me instead off to the side. I wanted him to help me but everyone stood still. I wanted to yell out I wanted to scream for help. Why the hell was I doing this? What did that kid ever do for me?

No…If I screamed they'd brand an innocent kid. A kid who deserves to be protected from the horrors of the world. Suddenly the rod was pulled away and I smelled burning. I almost threw up. When the air met my skin it hurt but I kept my teeth clenched together. I wanted to run away but I can't or else the kid.

I looked at her she was on her knees looking away. Can't blame her.

"Impressive hero!" mocked Talab, "Let's see how you handle round two!"

He then dipped his own rod into the pot and grabbed my head and held it straight. I involuntarily tried to move but he held me in place he was too strong. He then slowly placed the symbol at the base of my neck.

Frying nerves was the most painful thing one could ever experience. Billions or Trillions of cells let out dying impulses begging the brain to move. But I knew I couldn't, if I did somebody else would experience the pain. No sentient being deserved such pain!

I twitched my head up and looked through the window on the ceiling of the warehouse into space. Everything around me faded soon it was only me and the stars. They seemed to call out to me. Each one saying it was okay to just close my eyes and let the pain fade…no…they weren't saying that. They wanted me to reach out to them; they wanted me to come to their vast domains stretching across the cosmos.

My mouth opened but no scream came out just nothing…I could feel the tears stream down the side of my face as the pain faded away. W-why couldn't have I gotten a proper chance to explore this beautiful universe. I wanted to go to through the massive corridors of the Omega nebula. Actually see the pillars of creation…go back to Earth. I wanted to fly through space unchained. I wanted my freedom.

The rod was removed from my neck's base and suddenly the world around me reappeared. I was on my knees looking up through a window into space. I couldn't move my head the pain was too intense.

"You didn't scream hero I'll honor your wish human" I felt a hand pat my head. I didn't have the strength to shake it off. "Don't brand the child just place a bracelet around her arm" with that I heard footsteps go up the stairs.

A shirt was thrown toward me. It fell over my head. Slowly I pulled it off and glanced down at it. Was I really that powerless? I didn't even have the freedom to walk where I desired.

"Good job kid" I looked up quickly regretting the sudden movement as my skin flared in pain greatly to see James standing in front of me, "You didn't scream even once you've got balls"

I gave him an empty nod still dazed I just couldn't make sense of what had happened.

"Get up slowly" he said as he grabbed my hand. I followed his order and stood up slowly each movement adding to the pain on my back. I looked around slowly the place to see everyone looking at me with respect?

Scourge leapt to me and slapped my left shoulder. I let out a wince. He quickly moved his hands, "You've got a quad Khan!"

I looked past him and at Kenn who was unconscious. Lucky guy his body shut down. I tried taking a step but it hurt too much.

Sighing I slowly turned my head and looked at the Turian girl who walked up to me. Looking nervously to the ground. She had to be only 3 feet tall. I managed to give a smile; at least I had the strength to save someone.

"Well don't I get a thanks?" I asked feeling stupid for some reason.

She just looked up at me her mouth open. Shit was I supposed to say something else to a kid?

"T-thanks Mr…" she trailed off.

"Khan" I said, "Just call me Khan."

She gave a nod, "Thanks Khan" I raised my hand and placed it on her shoulder. It felt weird couldn't quite describe it.

"You're welcome Miss…?" I intentionally imitated her.

"Clé " she said with a laugh, "Just call me Clé ." I raised my eyebrows at her, imitating me eh. Guess her Turian name would be too hard to say.

"Well today is a day off Talab is smart enough to let you guys heal your scars" James said pointing towards the people heading to their rooms.

I looked over at Kenn and found Scourge had hoisted him carefully over his shoulder.

"Well guess I could use some rest" with that I slowly walked towards our rooms with James, Scourge, and Clé.

* * *

The first mark on my back was in the shape of a sun with several squiggly lines coming out of it. The center was empty. The Second mark at the base of my neck and right shoulder was small in size only 10 cm across. It was more abstract James said. It was more like a pair of wings in some abstract shape kinda like fire with some sort of Batarian symbol in the centre. I didn't really give a shit, fact is that somebody did this to mark me as their property and I would hate the symbols for the rest of my life…

I laid on my stomach looking around. Most were awake and conversing with their friends. I looked to see El who seemed to be thinking deeply. His brows were furrowed and eyes narrowed as he looked at the floor.

I wondered what he thought about. He did manage to gain a following; around several humans seemed to follow him as though he was some sort of prophet. Guess desperate times meant any person even resembling an authority figure would be able to manipulate weaker minded people or desperate people.

When the guard left for a shift change El suddenly perked up. This was not going to be good.

"Friends!" he said in a voice low enough to not be heard outside but small enough for us to hear him clearly. "Today is the day of our salvation!"

Everybody had turned to look at him. Most having looks of skepticism on their faces save for his followers which were around five people in total.

"My brothers for too long have we been chained to this place and be denied our freedoms!" a small cheer went up from his goons. "Today is the day we reclaim it and become the freemen we were destined to be!"

I shook my head, hypocritical bastard, he himself helped a slaver.

"How the hell can you free us!?" jeered a random Turian. Good question, does he have some sort of trick. I looked at his cage closely and found nothing of interest in it.

"A good question brother, I have been analysing the guards movements and have noticed moments in which we can escape!" he announced. "During their 2nd shift change I will use certain tools to escape my cage kill the guard and then free you all!"

Silence was all that answered him. I myself found it hard to believe that he could have some sort tool to escape. A guards finger print opened the cages along with a key. No way El could pull something like that off only a master escape artist could.

El then pulled out something very small I couldn't make it out. He then inserted it into the electronic keyhole. Everyone watched El moved it around a bit then with a beep his prison door opened up. I looked at him in shock along with everyone else.

I finally had a chance to escape along with everyone else. El then pulled out pieces of plastic and quickly ran up to another human's prison. He did the same and he also crawled out with a piece of plastic himself. The edge was serrated naturally since they ripped it off a plastic water bottle most likely.

El then tried to pull his device but then the keyhole started to smoke. He gave a quick curse and quickly ran up to the side of the door his partner to the other.

I looked around everyone was looking at the two some in fear others in hope. James wasn't even looking at them instead calmly sitting in a meditation stance. How could he not care about a potential escape attempt?

Then it dawned on me, he had to have seen many escape attempts and since he was so calm they failed…

The doors light turned from red to green the hologram vanished as the door opened in walked two Batarian guards. They passed by El and his partner not noticing them. Their eyes then caught sight of the two open cages. They quickly looked around the room but the El quickly crept up behind him and placed his hands over his head and pulled back slamming the Batarian against him. Before the Batarian could scream he was already sliding the plastic back and forth sawing open the guard's neck.

I watched feeling satisfaction well up. Even though I knew that the guard was going through unimaginable pain he deserved it. He deserved it for taking people as slaves.

The Batarian couldn't even scream and soon fell to the ground bleeding from his neck El yanked out the guard's pistol from the guards side as the Batarian desperately moved his hands to his neck trying to stop the bleeding. Purple blood covered the floor. El then placed the pistol on the guards head and pulled. The head blew up in a shower of purple gore.

Again I felt weird that I wasn't disturbed that much but happy. No! I shook my head, No he was still a living being…

But didn't he keep me in slavery? Doesn't that mean he's forfeited the right to his life?

I held my head as I looked away disturbed more by my own thoughts than the two dead bodies.

"See! I'm free!" El than pulled out the keys and dragged the body to each cell and started to open them. But after he had freed his own followers he stopped at a Turian and stared at him for a while.

"Hey are you going to let me out!" the Turian yelled annoyed. El stayed silent and looked around once and then at me. He held his gaze for a moment. As soon as he made eye contact with me I knew what he was going to do.

"Hey let me out!" the Turian banged the cage bars. El smiled I looked down.

"No" was all he said as he picked up the gun and walked to the guards and started to strip them down and wear their armour.

"What the hell! Asshole let me out!" the Turian continued. I also felt angry but I couldn't find the strength to vocalize it. My marks started to itch again I placed my hand on the one on my lower neck and flinched as it stung sharply.

Then a gunshot filled the room and several shrieks. I snapped my head up to see the Turian dead in his cage half of his skull blown open and El holding the gun. He blew away the smoke from the tip of the barrel and smiled.

"Only loyal followers who have been with me since the beginning are allowed to get freedom" he said as he stroked a girls head. All five of them had smiles on their faces as they looked at him as though he were some sort of a god.

Freak made himself a cult leader. Documentaries I watched told me it always tended to happen in high stress environments.

I shrank down and tried to make myself look as inconspicuous as possible. But some did the exact opposite. Several people started to shout. El looked at them amused and gave a laugh. He then fired at several more. Each bullet making me press up against the wall even more.

I was terrified he was nuts and killing anyone who disagreed with him! I hated this place!

"Now shut up I'm leaving and all of you will rot here for not following me!" he yelled as he and his gang walked out of the room. He and another in the armour of the former guards the other three with those pieces of plastic.

Silence filled the air I looked to my left and right to see Kenn and Scourge still sleeping, don't know how they managed. Then I looked over at Clé who had curled up in a ball. Poor kid.

James was still in his meditation he then opened his eyes and looked about they narrowed as he saw all the corpses.

"He won't survive" James declared. "Nobody has escaped this place and he won't be the first"

So it was true James must have seen many escape attempts.

Some tried asking James questions but all he said was that, "Talab let him escape, that chip he found was bait"

Guess he could then control everything down to El's own escape attempt.

After a minute an entire squad of guards rushed into the room armed to the teeth. They didn't say anything and just pilled the corpses of to the side.

There was no conversation and a deathly silence lasted for over several minutes.

Then the door opened up and in marched even more guards also armed. Talab walked in his head held high and behind him were El and his cult. There were only four of them one must've been killed, the girl. All were chained and wearing collars. He stopped in the centre.

"Slaves! Here are four who tried to escape!" he started. "You do know what happens to people who try to escape? They end up dead especially if they kill their own" he looked around at each one of us.

"Let me go!" El then shouted standing up. Talab pressed a button and the collar sparked, El let out a scream and fell to his knees.

"Tsk, tsk El, you should know that fighting me is pointless after all you belong to me" he crouched down and cupped El's cheek. "But I do like people with a certain fire in them" he glanced over at me. I quickly looked away.

He stood up, "Slaves I do love you all soo much so I won't have half of you killed, instead why not we have a little game?" he let the question hang.

What kind of twisted scheme did he have in mind? Anything coming out of that rotten head of his was never good.

"I have guests coming over soon and they would love entertainment… violent entertainment" my chest felt cold. "I have an arena where I usually pit varren against each other, why not have you slaves go at it after all you're not that different!" he laughed.

Everyone started to look around the place. At each other…sizing each other up.

Talab noticed and nodded, "Good but have heart! I will only select those who I believe will make a great show!" He then paced about the room looking at each slave. He passed by me and gave me a grin. I shivered as his eyes looked over me. He quickly moved on.

After several minutes he stood back in the center. "I've decided two people against Elliot and his followers."

My stomach sank two against four!? How would they even survive? Wonder which unlucky bastards he's chosen. Please not me…

"You!" he pointed at Clé!? She looked up in shock and fear.

"What the hell!" a person blurted out Talab just chuckled. My eyes narrowed and I clenched my fists anger filled me

The nerve of this guy. Pitting a child against four fully grown men, what sort of person was he?

"And her protector" he then looked at me.

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**A/N**

**Yep a gladiatorial battle. Hopefully me and Clé manage to survive :]**


	6. Chapter 6, The Arena

**AN: Well Chapter 6 out :] Again AP exams closing in...**

**N7warrior93: Glad you enjoyed it. As said before wanted something unique. I didn't want to immediately join S****hepard's crew, one has to earn the right**

**RamenKnight: Good to see your thinking deeply definitely some interesting ideas you've got there :]**

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Chapter 6: The Arena

I was quickly pulled out of my cage and forced to march to some sort of room. I was shoved towards the wall. I turned around and regained my footing. Then Clé was shoved into me. I caught her and pushed her behind me as I looked at the 3 guards.

"You have 10 minutes choose one weapon nothing more!" he shouted and patted his gun. I gulped and looked back at Clé who was shivering. I wasn't the type of guy who could comfort people but I had to try, our lives were on the line.

"Clé" I said as I bent down to eye level. She looked at me with her green Turian eyes quivering in fear. I took a deep breath and placed my hands on her shoulder. "Clé I need you to calm down we're going to win." She didn't respond and kept staring at me. I could feel her body shaking under my hands.

"Clé just listen to me and we will be alright" I reassured her but knew I was lying. I didn't even know how to wield any weapon save for a pencil. "Just stay behind me and we'll be fine." She still didn't respond still looking at me with that frightened look in her eyes.

"Move it!" the guard barked. Clé flinched towards me, I held her steady and I snapped my head towards him and I surprisingly didn't break my stare the guard lifted his head. Probably a Batarian gesture to indicate his superiority they had lots of body language cues.

I responded by raising my head as well the Batarian narrowed all four of his eyes and walked towards me raising his fist. I stood up tall and spread out my arms.

"Hit me" I invited feeling calm for some reason. Well as long as he didn't harm Clé. He then stopped and looked at his Omni-tool.

"Too much trouble, get your weapons before I choose them for you!" he said and walked back to the door ignoring the questioning look of the other Batarian guard.

I finally released the breath I didn't realize I was holding. I then looked back at Clé who was still scared. Ignoring her I walked over to the weapons rack and saw swords on it. They were of all types some human others alien for sure.

My eyes landed on one of them I instantly recognized it a Japanese Katana. I reached for the blade and pulled it off the rack. The weight gave me a sense of comfort I finally had something which I could use to protect myself.

I gripped the blade tighter and swung it around then stabbed the air. I knew I looked like a fool but I needed to get a hang of the blade it was going to be the only thing separating me from life and death. I was a history junkie and I knew that the blade was built for slashing. But that was all I knew…

I then looked at Clé who looked at me hesitant. I felt sorry for her being forced into this situation. But still she needed to survive. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if she died under my protection.

"Clé choose a blade" I stated. She slowly walked up to the rack and looked at it nervously inspecting each blade. While she was doing that I glanced back at the guards who kept a close eye on me.

"This one" she said quietly pointing at a small dagger with her talons. I pulled it down for her and then looked at her in the eyes.

"Clé I know you don't want this but we have to survive we need to keep living" this time she looked back at me with a grudging acceptance on her face. But I knew she hated this she was scared she was going to die. "Don't worry I'll protect you" I said as I patted her head.

"Are you done?" the guard asked I gave him a nod and walked towards him. He eyed the blade and nodded. "Follow me and if you try to escape Talab will feed you to the Varrens…alive." I knew he wasn't joking.

I followed the guards through a hall way and into the next room it was like a small change room with a large door at one end. I knew what it was for the entrance to the arena.

"In half an hour Talab will be showcasing this match to his guests as a surprise" the guard started, "It will be one on one to the death and will continue like this until the other side loses. But in your case if you take out the first two and manage to survive it'll be you and that brat against the two remaining humans."

I took it all in. I was going to go first so at least Clé wouldn't be in danger for the first two rounds if I could manage to…kill them. But the last one El and another one of his goons I would be at a disadvantage if I managed to survive. Exhausted no doubt and Clé only a kid against two fully grown men the, odds were horrible. But I had to win.

"The winner receives a prize from Talab" he said as he folded his arms. "But I doubt you'll win, I'll enjoy seeing you die" he grinned. I held Clé's hand and gave it a squeeze hopefully comforting her.

"But don't worry a friend of yours will be giving you advice" he then gestured at the door and in walked James! My face broke into a smile at seeing his bearded face his lips twitched as he walked up to me escorted by two guards.

"Never thought you'd be in a life or death struggle so soon kid" his deep voice calming my nerves. "But I'll give you all the advice I can in the time we have."

He then sat down at a bench I sat by him Clé next to me also looking more calm. Who wouldn't be with James here. He was the de-facto leader of us.

"So you chose a Katana eh? And you a Turian standard issue army dagger" he commented looking at the blades. "Well Khan I hate to say but that was a bad choice a Katana is a difficult weapon to use you might cut your own limbs off."

I looked at him now crestfallen. Realizing my decision was not based on logical reasoning, even in a situation like this I wasn't able to think and instead let my desire to use a Katana overrule my judgement.

"But there is no changing, it I'll give you some basic pointers about wielding one"

He then told me to always keep the blade in front of me separating me and the enemy. I was to strike first because the other person would be just as nervous as me. I was also never to manoeuver the blade around me in any fancy way.

He then moved on to Clé and told her about her dagger. I ignored her and thought more about what he told me. It sounded very frightening. I kept taking deep breaths and didn't even realize when James stood up patting my shoulder.

"Good luck" with that he was escorted out. The door closed and his massive figure vanished with it a lot of Clé's sense of security she became fidgety again.

She kept staring at her dagger. I hesitantly placed my hand on her shoulder and the effect was instant. She stopped shaking and closed her eyes leaning against the wall.

I also leaned back and closed my eyes. We stayed like that for several minutes.

"Get out now slave!" the guard barked. I stood up gripping the sword tightly in my hand and walked towards the door. Each step I took I felt my chest constrict. I stood in front of the door and looked at a guard who pressed a few buttons.

"Khan!" I looked back to see Clé standing up. "S-stay safe!"

Despite my fear a light smile spread across my face.

"I will."

With that I walked through the door and out into a large arena. The floor was metallic a red tint to. It was surrounded on all sides by a wall. Several meters up were balconies and on them stood many aliens and humans. All looking down amused and conversing with each other over cups of; some types of expensive drink no doubt.

The door opposite to me opened and walked out a scrawny looking man in his late 40s. In his hand he held an axe over a meter long. I gripped my blade tighter if that were possible my knuckles turning white.

"Welcome everyone to the finale of the night!" Talab started from the largest balcony. "A gladiatorial match between my loyal slaves on the right and runaways on the left!"

The crowd clapped and cheered. I felt sick.

"Fights to the death! One vs. one until there are two left and then two against two the winner or if their lucky winners will receive a gift from me!" he looked down at both of us smiling.

"I hope it will be a fun evening surely you won't disappoint." With that he sat down on his large chair two Asari on each of his arms instantly.

The crowd cheered. People who I thought were upper class were now behaving like fools.

"Both of you stand on the lines bow and walk back to your doors." Said an announcer the voice was Turian in nature.

We did exactly that. The look in the other man's eyes were wild and savage. It tried to keep a straight face. We then walked to the front of the doors.

"Draw weapons!" I pulled the blade out of the sheath the sound was very comforting. I could see my own face on the blade it was blank which was good…

The other man just drew his axe and held it in front of him I could see the wooden handle on it. I felt more confident knowing the steel of the katana would cut through the wood and judging by the way he eyed it he knew it as well.

"Forward to the second line!" I walked forward ten steps and stopped only several feet away. We both locked eyes he had brown eyes just like me. His face was scared but eyes resolute.

"Fight!" I charged forward blade poised for a stab, he was too far for a slice. The man side stepped and raised his axe but his arms strained. He was one of the weaker slaves and the metal head of the axe did look heavy.

I slashed to my right with the blade with a metallic clang he blocked the slice with the axes' head. The crowd cheered. My arm was in a horrible position I couldn't push forward with the slash. The sword quivered as did my arm.

I quickly back stepped away keeping my sword pointed at him holding it with both hands. I was already breathing heavily. I-I felt a strange rush of excitement rush through my veins. It was adrenaline no doubt.

This time the man charged his long blonde hair swirling wildly as he charged axe raised above his head. I knew it was an opening but I couldn't move rooted in spot. He then swung down I raised the blade above my head blocking it. The two metals grinded against each other above my head. He pushed down with as much force as he could muster. I pushed up and it became apparent I was the stronger one.

With a surge of confidence I pushed up hard and he stumbled back a step. I then stepped forward and slashed downwards horizontally. He raised the axe but the blade hit the wood and it was as if the handle wasn't there. In one smooth motion the axe was cut in half. The blade then hit his shoulder and cut through the skin hitting the collar bone and cutting it as well but the momentum was decreased. I could tell the sword stopped right above the heart.

In an instant the slice was over. The man fell down on his back let out a scream of pain clutching his chest as blood sprayed out all over the place and on my face.

I stood rigid eyes glazed over and wide. I couldn't think the only thing going through my eyes were the man's screams as he begged for someone to help him.

The crowd went wild clapping and shouting.

I looked down at him his eyes the same eyes as me looked up at me with such loathing I nearly fell down.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" the crowd started chanting like some sort of mad cult.

They all looked at Talab who smirked and slowly raised his fist and…raised his thumb.

I knew what I had to do. I had to kill the man before me like the gladiators in the movies.

"Move it!" shouted the announcer.

I slowly took a step forward and looked at my blade glistening in blood. I stood next to the man and raised the blade right above his heart. I closed my eyes.

I really was going to take the life of someone just wanting freedom. Was I perpetuating the cycle? Then my mind went back to the movie Gladiator in which Maximus refuses to execute his opponent. Surely I could do the same and spare his life?

I then looked up at Talab fear flooding me. I knew my answer I couldn't I-I couldn't my will wasn't strong enough.

I then brought the blade down and in a sickening squelch it cut through flesh and his heart. The man instantly went limp his eyes looking up at me asking me one thing. Why did I do it?

The crowd went wild enjoying the murder. I stumbled back and fell on my bottom sword falling to my side. My breathing became faster and slowly erratic. Several guards went to the body and took it away. Then one threw a water bottle in front of me.

"Drink up boy that was a good kill" he said and looked away.

I shakily grabbed the bottle and quickly gulped down the water feeling calmer but still. I just killed someone and the feeling was horrible…

"And my loyal slave won this round!" Talab announced. I couldn't move my head towards him too guilt ridden because I killed someone.

"Let's see if he can win a second round!" he finished. I could vaguely hear the crowd placing bets. I closed my eyes tight, tears threatening to fall. I-I had to do it, if it wasn't him it would have been me…then Clé.

Slightly more resolute than before I stood up my knees slightly quivering. I grabbed the blood stained blade and held it up.

The door opened and in walked another man about my age but he was one of the first to pass out in Talab's test after doing the minimum time. My eyes widened at the massive steel war hammer in his grip. It could do a lot of damage and I wasn't sure that my sword would be able to block any blows from that without getting damaged.

I didn't focus at the man's face instead keeping my eyes on the weapon.

We did the same procedure as before bow to the door and back. I noticed the hammer had a small wooden part in its middle, I wasn't sure if I had the accuracy to target it.

"Fight!"

The man struck first leaping at me his hammer swinging in an arc coming at me from my right. I jumped back the hammer's head grazing my shirt. The momentum of the swing carried the man into a swing. I charged in blade ready poised for a stab. Before I could reach him the hammer came in for a second swing. Bastard used the momentum to speed up his swing.

Everything grew slow as I saw the hammer approach. If I stopped the head would hit me, I needed to take another step. I took that step and raised my blade parallel to my body on the right and the hammer's middle struck the edge. The blade dug in slightly into the wood but was stopped by the steel and I was pushed to my left slightly. The force of the blow also brought a throbbing pain to my arms.

We locked eyes in that instant in knew he would do anything to win as well. I turned the blade slightly forward still in the wood but facing him more and slashed forward along the length of the hammer. The Katana's cutting edge proved to be very useful as it cut through the wood and streaked towards his fingers. He quickly pulled back I kept the slash going but he stepped back.

I then finished the slash but he had dodged it and I had let myself wide open to an attack. I was stupid enough to overextend myself thinking the same tactic would work twice.

He ran at me and all I could do was raise my blade half way up as he tackled me? I fell onto my back sword falling to the side he still stood and raised his hammer up high ready to smash my skull in. I rolled quickly to the side as the hammer hit the ground where my head would have been. The steel beneath bent slightly.

I then pushed myself up using my hands I used the speed to smash my right foot right in his balls. He gave a scream dropping the hammer and immediately grabbing his balls and bending inwards.

I grabbed the hammer stood up and swung it into his left side. I could feel his ribs break as he fell down screaming. I hurled the hammer across the arena admittedly it didn't go that far. I quickly grabbed my sword and held it above his neck as he lay on the ground.

"Kill! Kill!" the crowd began chanting again. I looked up at Talab who stayed silent for a while he then lifted his right arm and thumbed up again.

I gulped and didn't look down at the man's face. But I could hear his whimpers.

"Please…" I raised the blade trying my best to shut out his voice instead focusing more on Clé. He wouldn't hesitate to kill her. I had to...kill him to keep her safe.

I brought the katana down with all my force there was no resistance slightly at the spine but soon I felt it hitting the ground. I quickly turned around not wanting to look at the corpse. The guards removed it and the hammer.

I looked up at Talab hate in my eyes. I blamed him, it was easy. It was his fault that I was forced to murder those people. If I didn't he would have killed them himself. Sadistic bastard.

I surprised myself when I raised the sword ignoring the throbbing pain in my right arm I pointed it straight at him.

"Who else do you want to die?" I asked wanting to defy him in any way possible.

He smirked and started to laugh. "So you've still got a spine even after killing two innocent slaves" he put an emphasis on the word innocent and it did have an effect. I looked to my right eyes watering slightly.

No it was his fault, not mine I was just protecting Clé.

I looked back at him, "Talab you would have killed them anyways I did them a favour by sending them off, who would want to die by your filthy hands." I smirked when his eyes narrowed.

The entire place went silent nobody ever thinking that a slave would dare insult his master.

"Slave you will regret this decision to speak against me, your partner will be disarmed."

My eyes went wide, "What…" was all I could mutter. Instantly regretting my decision to speak against him, I just wanted him to feel bad… guess the ass never knew how to feel.

I then narrowed my eyes seeing he wouldn't change his mind. The door behind me opened and in walked Clé no weapon in hand.

Her hand flew to her mouth seeing the blood on my face and sword. She quickly rushed towards me.

"Th-they took my dagger and what happened to you?" she said panicked.

"Nothing happened" I started, "I'm sorry"

She looked at me confused at my quick answer. I didn't have time to elaborate both of us would be fighting for our lives in a matter of moments.

"Stay behind me no matter what" with that I turned around and looked at the other door.

It opened and in walked El wielding a blade resembling a European long sword. To his right was his goon in his twenties his muscles made me nervous, he wielded a blade similar to El's.

"So you survived" he mused looking at the blood stains on the floor. He then looked at Clé seeing her weaponless he grinned I stood in front of her; she gripped the back of my shirt. "You've impressed me."

"It's your entire fault" I spat out, "All this pointless blood shed thinking you could outsmart Talab, I never thought I could meet someone so stupid."

His face contorted to rage but he kept calm, his companion on the other hand shouted and charged at me. I knew the fight had started I raised my sword blocking his slash, my arm throbbed in pain.

El came at me from my front ready to stab. I was about to duck but I realized Clé was behind me. Instead I pushed hard to the right throwing off his goon's sword and stepped slightly to the right and forward bringing my sword in a side sweep. It hit his sword and pushed it to the side missing Clé by inches.

I grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her behind me as both stood to either side of me. I was surprised I had managed to block their first strikes I wasn't too sure on the second ones.

Both came at me from both sides. But El was faster and came from my right. I then swung my sword in an arc starting from the right El stopped his attack and he jumped back as well as his friend.

Both started to circle me and Clé. I tried to keep them in front of me but this ended with me and Clé up against the wall. They both charged again at the same time. I knew they were too fast if I tried to block one the other would hit Clé.

I grabbed Clé and shoved her forward. I blocked El's blows and tried to sidestep his goon but I wasn't a trained warrior. His sword pierced my right side. The pain was horrible. I gasped as I saw the sword sticking out.

Clé let out a scream it almost sounded like a bird's cry. My arm shook as El applied more force. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold the defense much longer.

I felt the blade being pulled out and the pain was unbearable but still not as bad as the branding.

I pushed El off but the flexing of my abdomen increased the pain and the wound bled even more. Luckily it seemed my organs weren't hit.

I then did exactly what Jame's warned me not to do. I spun around ignoring the wound and swung my blade at the goon. He barley blocked.

"Look out!" Clé shouted and I ducked El's swing which hit his partner's shoulder. Kneeling I swiped my blade it cut his goon's legs. But I didn't have enough strength to damage them seriously. Then I felt a foot pressed into my back.

I instantly froze thinking back to the branding. El pushed me onto the ground. He grinded his foot into my back and especially into the stabbed wound.

Clé let out a shriek. I looked at her she was frozen looking at me.

"Well guess I win" he raised his sword ready to stab. But then all of a sudden I heard the wall right next to us open up and in charged several Varren. El's partner let out a strangled cry as he moved back. El himself also moved back quickly.

I rolled away and barley got up. I was weaponless the katana lay by the 3 Varrens.

"Thought I'd spice it up" Talab said from the comfort of his chair.

I muttered a curse under my breath. I was the closest to the Varren and kneeling. I gripped my bleeding wound.

Then something unexpected happened. Talab threw a pistol right behind the Varren. El quickly ran to his partner and whispered something in his ear. I knew he'd be getting the pistol.

The Varren started to growl and move forward. El's companion moved towards me limping his shin's bleeding. Then El grabbed him and pushed him at the Varren. He let out a strangled cry as all three jumped towards him starting to chew into him.

I heard a Varren cry out in pain. He must've killed at least one...good. El ran for the pistol I did the same ignoring the wound. El was about to reach for it and I tackled into him from behind both of us on the ground. His sword fell to his side.

"Why you!" he growled out trying to push me off. I stayed on him and punched him across the face and felt a satisfying crunch.

Both of us wrestled on the floor. I reached for my sword but he kicked it away I did the same to his. But it was clear who had the upper hand in the fight. My wound bled freely now and my vision blurred slightly. I was losing too much blood.

He hauled me to my feet and head butted me. I stumbled into the wall. He then started punching me across the face. I heard my nose break for sure. I tried to wrestle free but his grip was to strong and my stomach hurt too much.

Then suddenly El let out a cry of pain he fell down to the ground my katana stabbed into his spine and Clé right behind him looking scared. El let out screams and she fell to her knees paralyzed. What child wouldn't?

I quickly took the gun and aimed it at the Varren. Two were alive one lay dead. They fed on the body of El's buddy. I raised the gun and fired two rounds into them. The distance was close enough that aim wasn't an issue. The kickback did startle me but I ignored it. When they hit them the Varren lit on fire and burned to death. It was a modded pistol.

I then looked at El who had stopped moving but was twitching andletting out moans. The sword did hit his spine.

"Kill! Kill!" the crowd started for the third time.

I ignored them and walked up to Clé but the pain was too much I fell to the ground grabbing my wound. My vision started to blur. I tried to drag myself forward but it only served to intensify the pain.

The crowd cheered, meaning Talab wanted El dead. But I couldn't move my strength having left me. If I didn't kill him he'd make Clé do it. I wouldn't let her go down the path of a killer...

"Clé…" I whispered to no avail. I shakily raised the pistol and aimed it at El the last bullet. It hit him and he started to burn. His screams haunted me as he tried to move but couldn't. Eventually he turned into a pile of ash.

I heard footsteps. I couldn't make out any shapes. But the last thing I saw was a boot in front of me face and the last thought going through my head was, Clé's safety.

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**A/N:**

**First proper fight scenes hopefully good enough, be sure to give me feedback so I can improve them. Well I barley managed to survive well actually only based on luck. Talab's cruelty ironically saved me. Next chapter should be exciting a reward from Talab. **

**Well stay tuned for the next chapter :]**


	7. Chapter 7, The Plan

**A/N: Here it is new chapter :]**

**RamenKnight: Don't worry man this story will stay the way it is. I myself have stopped reading stories due too much sexuality. I suck at commas...I'll try man.**

**In caverns dark: Welcome to the story :] Glad to see you enjoy the story. He is getting a group of friends together.**

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Chapter 7: The Plan

I painfully lifted another crate onto the loading dock. Modern medicine was really amazing. The stab wound was healed on the very day I was stabbed several days ago. But it still felt weird almost like a ghost wound. James said I'd experience a weirdness there but it would son fade. Shock of getting stabbed would wear off.

It was hard to get over the fact that I killed three people. In fact I had not gotten over it. On the outside I tried to shrug it off but that did nothing to stop the nightmares. Their begging and screams would haunt me forever. I asked James about his first kill to which all he said was he'd never forget it.

"Just accept that you did it to survive they would have done the same kid," he advised. But it was easy to say yet hard to accept. The people I killed were forced into their situations…

Everyone knew of what had occurred most of the remaining humans didn't talk to me a murderer. Even Clé was hesitant to look at me. But she had to be dealing with her own demons. Children weren't supposed to stab people.

A few days ago I sat down and talked to her about the events. She eventually broke and started crying about the murders. She actually mentioned her father saying that he said only when one has all the evidence of someone's crimes they were to attack. I reminded her that El had killed many other prisoners for no reason. That was the evidence. She accepted my reasoning especially when James also talked to her. Then again she was 9 years old a child's mind was easy to change.

Scourge was proud even though he didn't like Krogan brutality. He was still Krogan and liked 'strong' people. He was the first to congratulate me and actually became friendlier with me. To the point of actually letting me lift fewer crates the day after the fight.

'I know how you humans feel about death just pull yourself together quick or I'll kick you in the quads!'

Kenn was just glad I had survived. He loathed El especially when he killed the prisoners. He was a bit more reserved around me. But still one of the few who kept talking with me, he was one of the few friends I had.

James was glad I survived not believing I would. In fact everyone thought I was going to die.

"You've got a fire in you kid, one that refuses to be put out." I myself didn't believe that. I had no fire if I did I wouldn't be in this mess and wake up in the middle of the night due to nightmares.

"Khan! Hurry up!" Scourge shouted as I hadn't realized I was standing still thinking. Quickly I jogged after him. He looked at me and gave a smirk. "Talab's shirt really that comfortable you spend your time standing by that windy dock" he laughed.

I looked down at the grey shirt Talab had 'graciously' awarded me. It was comfortable actually kept me warm in the chilly Omega air. I didn't know what it was made of just another future marvel I needed to figure out.

I walked to another crate and picked it up. "Well at least I don't walk around half naked" I joked, to which Scourge looked down at his leg wear and grumbled. He had no shirt.

We hauled the crates back and forth for nearly an hour until the day was over. My entire body ached nobody could get used to Talab's grueling schedule even after a month of work.

"What weapon did you use?" Scourge suddenly asked. I looked over surprised he was already asking about something I really didn't wish to speak about. I stayed silent.

He looked at me annoyed, "Khan you will need to acc-"

I cut him off, "Look Scourge, I-I'm not a Krogan I-killing isn't in my blood I just don't want to talk about this, I will come around in due time but for now could we drop this" I told him trying to stay calm.

He gave me a long hard stare. I stared back. He finally looked away, "Fine I'll let you have a few more days of peace." I gave him a grateful smile.

We arrived at our quarters and were forced into our cages. Inside I let out a sigh touching my wound. It would scar Talab's second gift a memento of the encounter. I just closed my eyes trying to block out their screams…

"Khan you okay?" Kenn asked. I looked at him. "You've been rubbing your wound for nearly an hour."

I looked surprised and gave him a nod, "I'm fine" I quickly replied. He held my gaze for a while and then shook his head.

"You're not, no one would be."

"Listen Ken-"

"Just stop you've been silent for the entire week barley talking to anyone I was actually surprised you talked to Scourge today."

I stayed silent knowing what he said was true.

"Listen, I don't claim to have killed someone but El and his cult were monsters they killed people in cold blood" he started nervously, "You saved more lives by killing them, Clé is only alive thanks to you."

I stayed silent. It…was true El was a monster if not for me he would have been a danger. He killed those innocents who deserved to be avenged. And Clé needed to live.

I glanced at her she was asleep soundly. A smile graced my face Kenn noticed.

"See, it's because of you she can live."

"What the hell! You talk to him but not me?" Scourge shouted. "Come on now tell me what weapon was it?"

I looked at him amused the guilt slowly eroding away. El was a sociopath who was a murderer and his cult accomplices…they deserved to be served justice.

I ignored Scourge feeling he wouldn't be that angry with me. I closed my eyes sleep overcame me. That night there were no nightmares, just me flying through the clouds on a sunny day.

* * *

The next morning went on as usual and I slowly started to tell Scourge of what happened in the arena. When I was done it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of my chest.

He clasped my shoulder shaking it in his tight grip. "Ha! Ha!" he laughed. "What a warrior! Were your ancestors warriors?" he asked.

I gave a nod wiping sweat off of my forehead. "They were called the Scythians mounted archers" I said. My father had taught me all about our ancestry he was very proud of it, heck even I became proud. Me and Scourge started talking about the ancient histories of our civilizations.

He was surprised at my knowledge. I reasoned most had stopped studying our own history instead focusing on alien history.

"Khan" James called as he walked up to us lifting several massive crates. "We need to talk Scourge if you wouldn't mind." Understanding Scourge went to work with Kenn.

I looked up at James curious as to why he would want to speak to me.

"Is there anything you need?" I asked.

He looked around with his eyes only once and the spoke barley above a whisper. "Khan I have a plan."

My eyebrows rose in shock understanding what he meant. An escape plan…

When dropping the crates he patted me on the back his hand staying there for a while. His face was frozen in thought. When the guards looked at us he walked forward with me in tow.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Tonight" was all he said and then stayed silent throughout the day.

I was very curious. An escape plan so soon after El's own failed one. Then again Talab may not expect one so soon. But it was odd James himself told me once all escape attempts failed in this miserable place.

The day went on as usual one Turian fell down exhausted, poor guy got whipped several times.

When night fell and everyone fell asleep I stayed awake. James then spoke after looking at everyone around the room carefully checking to see if everyone was asleep. No doubt using some special forces body language queues he must've learned.

"Send me your shirt" he ordered. I looked at him confused. Why would he want it.

"Why?" I asked quietly.

"Don't worry I'll explain it just make it a ball and throw it at me."

I reluctantly took it off and threw it at him. It landed in front of his cage he pulled it inside and started to examine it for several minutes.

I looked at him curious. What was so special about my shirt? I hugged my body the air very chilly. I looked down at the stab it was very thin near my hips the kidney region. I was surprised to see very little fat on me. My stomach was very flat and had abs forming.

"Fool" James said done examining the shirt. He had a grin on his face.

"Talab?" I asked.

He nodded pointing at the shirt, "This shirt will help us get out of here the materials are very useful for cutting." He then pinched the shirt and pulled out a thread of cloth from it with some effort, actually several minutes of work.

"This shirt is made out of multiple small threads bound together using a gel. It's normally hard to separate them but if you can the strings are extremely thin and in the hands of someone like me, a weapon" he explained. "We'll use a similar method to El's escape but where he failed we will succeed."

I looked at him even more confused. I thought for a while and then my eyes widened. "The weapons room" I whispered.

"Not just that when I went to give you advice I managed to locate the stairs leading to the upper level where Talab's room is. We'll have to do this quick preferably tomorrow."

I nodded but then realized a problem, "What about the locks" I gestured at the ones on the cages.

"When Talab placed those fake keys I opened mine and then slipped it into one El's friends cage"

"Don't they short circuit?"

"Kid you learn some tricks in the Alliance" was all he said.

"So your door has always been open?"

"Yeah I kept the mechanical locking mechanism in place so the guards wouldn't find out during a check"

"The-Then why didn't you save them?" He stayed in his cage while El killed all those people.

"Kid" he fell silent and looked to the side "You have to make some sacrifices in order to live"

"Your humanity," I stated knowing I sacrificed some of mine when I killed…

He nodded and we fell silent for a while.

"How will it play out?"

"I'll kill the guards when they come in there will be 3 but I can handle them. After that I'll free a few people to get the master key in Talab's room after we storm the armoury."

"Why not free everyone?"

"You can't with guard keys you can only free 3 people. You need authorization from the command centre to use one key to unlock all cages."

"What's the point of freeing three people?"

"If you want to punish someone and three guards for three people" he scratched his beard.

"Who will the three be?"

"You, Kenn and Scourge. Before you ask you three are the strongest slaves next to me I need strength for this mission and I'll talk to them tomorrow"

"Tomorrow?" I said retrieving my shirt as he threw it at my cage.

"Yes, get a good night's sleep tomorrow you'll be free."

* * *

The next day was very tense. Work went on as usual. Judging by Kenn's frequent hand wringing and glancing at the clock James had told him.

I walked over to Kenn as James walked to Scourge. Kenn didn't look at me instead silently doing his work.

I was surprised I wasn't more nervous. We would be escaping this place in a few hours. I actually felt an odd rush of excitement. Finally escaping from this hellhole.

"You alright?" I asked knowing the answer.

"Nervous" he said looking around. The overseers didn't bother us much as long as we did our work.

"Who wouldn't be? But, I think the risk is worth it."

"Freedom has no price," he said nodding. I looked at him pleased.

"True, it's worth risking everything for" I started, "Even our lives…"

I placed my crate on a pile of several.

"Are you sure it'll work?"

"I trust James with my life" I said knowing it was true. He had helped me the most in this place. He talked to me about his plan first. If he trusted me I would trust him. "Besides he was in spec ops, he knows what he is doing."

Kenn gave a nod feeling more relieved. Scourge gave a loud shout. I looked at the overseers who just shook their heads. It was typical of him to do so and nobody wanted to deal with a Krogan.

"Well at least he's excited" Kenn joked.

* * *

When the day was over we all went into our cages. Kenn and I were nervous; Scourge seemed excited but managing to temper it, barely. James was silent moving his hands up and down something. No one could see it due to it being so thin but I knew what it was. The weapon that would kill the guards.

I closed my eyes my mind taking me to a faraway place. Today was the day I would change my life for the better. I wondered what my parents would think of me. My father would be proud of me escaping if he were here he himself would lead the charge out. My mother would just follow him .

I felt a knot gathering in my throat. I then focused on happier thoughts from my old life. Slowly they drifted to happier thoughts in this life. Clé introducing herself to me, Scourge's jokes, James being the calm leader and Kenn's nervousness in trying to help me.

I would escape, I would fight for their right to live, the right to freedom was a sacred right one to be cherished and Talab would pay for the misery he put us through.

Then in a flash of realization I…felt sorry for El, Talab created that monster. Even the most heinous always were innocent, but the world changed everyone unless you fought it and I would.

I opened my eyes an hour later to James opening his door as the guards left. Everyone fell silent looking at him with bated breath. No one dared raise their voice all curious and hopeful. James was the strongest out of everyone and him trying to escape would only be done with great planning.

He walked to the side of the door in the same place El hid and got his string ready. I could actually see it reflected in the eerie red light.

Everyone looked on nervous. I felt my body getting tenser by each passing moment. It all hinged on James managing to incapacitate the guards silently. I heard footsteps and took several deep breaths. My fists clenched.

The door opened and in walked 3 guards. They didn't even glance at the James' cage never expecting him to be out. The door closed James used the sound to mask his footsteps. He then in a flash wrapped the thread around the middle guard's neck. In a silent pull blood spurted from the guard's neck it getting cut open. He fell down dead. Before the others could react James grabbed the others head snapped it and pulled out the guard's knife and stabbed the last one in the throat.

It was over three dead guards lay on the floor all of it happened in several seconds. James pulled out the key from one of the guards and walked over to Kenn's cage opened it then mine and Scourge we quickly walked out.

The other slaves looked at James expectant. I looked at Clé who was still sound asleep.

"This key only works on three cages" to prove it he quickly tired another cage it didn't open. "These three are the strongest. We'll get the master key and be back."

They all stayed silent when one was about to shout James threw the key at him. "Try it won't work I promise we'll be back."

He pulled off the guns and handed me and Kenn one each. Scourge didn't have one only three were available.

"Don't shoot with them we need to stay silent."

With that we followed him outside the room and into the hall. James took the lead I was right behind him Kenn behind me and Scourge at the end.

We tried to be as silent as possible. Each step felt like it was thunder. I really wished I was moving as silently as possible. We stopped at the first turn. James glanced around the corner he then started to move again.

Hearing footsteps we all stopped at the next turn. James raised his finger to his mouth. I gulped my hands shaking. The footsteps echoed across the halls the two guards talking to each other about getting some drinks.

Slowly they grew quieter and eventually died out. We then turned and walked forward and found two hallways intersecting. I knew the weapons were forward. James knew as well. He leaned against one wall hearing nothing he quickly crossed the hall.

We did the same. Then I heard footsteps. James quickly started to move forward we followed. The armoury was one turn away. The footsteps from behind grew louder. James looked over his shoulder and quickly turned right. We came face to face with a guard at the door of the armoury. James reacted instantly his hand released the knife. It flew true to aim and hit the guard in the head. He fell down dead.

We all looked at him impressed. He wasn't joking when he said he was in spec ops. The body fell down with a thud. My heart rate increased as I thought someone would come. James ignored it and walked up to the door. He pulled off the guards Omni-tool and the knife out of his head and did some stuff which I didn't understand. The guard's eyes were still wide in shock. I pushed the guilt out of my mind.

I didn't kill him, and besides he was a slaver.

He then waved it in front of the door the red turned to green and it opened.

As soon as it did James rushed in there was a guard sitting on a bench he barley looked up to see James already on top of him blade digging into the neck. The guard was dead instantly.

"Hurry grab what you can we have one minute" He said immediately running to a gun rack I didn't know was there. I myself also took a pistol. It looked like a predator pistol. I then noticed something on the sword rack.

I quickly walked up to it and found the very katana I used during the match. The sword that saved my life. I grabbed the hilt it was the same blade it had the same guard a dragon winding its way in a circle. I pulled the blade off the rack and pulled it slightly out of the sheath. It was polished the same wave pattern on the blade greeted me. The sword gave me a sense of security I never thought was possible my racing nerves calmed down as I felt the familiar weight in my hands.

"Were going" James passed us some tubes, "Silencers." I put it on the pistol and used the string on the sheath to wrap it around my waist. It hung to my side. James looked at it with a knowing glance. He had an assault rifle an avenger.

I looked at Kenn who also had a pistol Scourge took an assault rifle as well.

"Now it'll get tough we need to go upstairs find Talab's room retrieve the key and then free everyone. I'll take point Scourge you rear and both of you in the middle."

We entered the formations, "Let's do this," I said.

Everyone nodded and we moved out. There was no armour in the room but now I felt as though we had a proper chance of escaping.

We moved back to the intersection hearing footsteps James looked to see two guards walk up a set of stairs at the other end. He raised his gun and moved down the hall quietly towards them we followed guns raised.

"He hasn't responded to any calls" a guard muttered.

"Did the slaves try something?" the other asked.

"We better go look." Biggest mistake of his life as soon as he turned James peppered him with bullets all rounds silent. He was dead in two seconds. I raised my pistol and fired at the other person. The round missed and hit the wall echoing across the hall.

James had already moved onto him and two rounds in the head later he fell down dead.

Before we walked upstairs I turned around and gazed at the door at the end of the hall. That was the exit. If I ran I would make it and be free…

I took a step forward away from the stairs confusing Scourge. Ignoring him I started to walk several paces towards the other door.

"Already leaving" James said voice relatively quiet.

I stopped not looking back my eyes focused only on the door. I ignored him and took another step.

"Too scared kid?" he probed again.

I felt guilt enter my stomach. But I pushed it aside and kept walking until I reached the cross way. I was so close to freedom.

"Kid if you take one more step you will spit on whatever you stood for." I turned around and looked at him standing halfway up the stairs. Face stoic. "Remember when you came here the first night you said you weren't a slave kid."

He walked down to the base of the stairs. "Kid I'm not going to stop you but keep this in mind" he placed his fist on his chest. "If you still believe in your ideals walk with us if not, leave."

I closed my eyes guilt racking my body. If I left James would free them but they would know that I was the one who fled. I would let everyone down, Kenn, Scourge, Clé and…myself.

I took a breath and walked towards James. Reaching him I gave a nod. He patted me on the shoulder and resumed walking up the stairs. I ignored the other two and followed James.

We moved up the stairs and found ourselves in another hallway much larger than the one below.

"We'll go around the one with the biggest door should be Talab's."

We followed him and after a tense walk found ourselves in front of a large door, with oddly no guards.

"Good he should have been out buying slaves" James muttered as he used the Omni-tool to hack the door open.

It opened and in we walked.

"Scourge, Kenn stay by the door lookout for any guards." He ordered.

The room was massive. It had a large bed with a window looking out at Omega's skyline. There were wine bottles on a table. Several other bottles I couldn't recognize. The room made me want to vomit. Talab lived in this kingly room while I we were forced to live in small dirty cages.

"Search the room Khan we don't have time to stand" James hissed. I quickly started to look through drawers and cupboards. I found nothing save for a diary. I opened it and started to read it. It was disgusting he talked about us as if we were animals. In anger I threw it away and searched the cupboards.

Not finding I looked around but then a glint caught my eye by the window sill. I walked up and found my necklace. I gently took it moving my finger up the small blade and wings. It was as clean as before. I quickly placed it around my neck. As soon as I did the windows opened and in came a breeze.

Confused I looked around no one noticed. Looking at the necklace one last time I resumed searching.

"I got it" James said taking it out of the closet. "Let's go."

The trip back was silent no guards. If Talab wasn't here he must have taken most with him. James really did plan this entire escape out. We arrived at the prison and entered to find everyone wide awake and looks of joy on their faces when we entered.

"I have the key we'll escape in an orderly fashion." James then opened the first door but by the time he was at his seventh cage Kenn shouted, "Their here!"

James immediately closed the door and locked it. He threw some guns at other slaves.

"Everyone take up a defensive position around the door!"

We surrounded the entrance. Multiple footsteps could be heard from the other side. I felt despair enter my chest. We had come so close only for our hopes to have been squashed. How cruel could this place get?

The door opened and we fired. There were several guards who immediately fell dead their shields putting up no resistance. Then more rushed in and fired at us. They had the better weapons and training. We stood no chance with in seconds they had overwhelmed us.

One charged at me I tried to pull out the sword but I was too slow, he punched me in the face and I fell down onto the ground bleeding. He came on me and punched me several times leaving me dazed. I could hear screams and Scourge roaring.

"Khan!" I heard Kenn yell before he let out a yell. I tried to move but the guard slapped a handcuff onto my wrist.

I fell limp, terror filling me. So close…"So close!" I started to yell and thrash as I broke down. The guard kept me restrained as another assisted him keeping my legs down.

Eventually I just started to cry tears mixing in with the blood on my bruised face. The shouting died down and silence filled the hall.

I heard footsteps and then they stopped.

"Another escape attempt so soon?" a voice I hated said.

I snapped my head up to see Talab standing there smirking as he looked at us.

"I wonder how you did it?" he looked at James he stayed silent glaring at him. Talab then gave a laugh. I snapped.

"Asshole!" I shouted trying to wriggle free of the guards to no avail. "Bastard! You've ruined everyone's life!"

He looked at me and chuckled. "Even my favourite has decided to fight me." He walked up to me and gave me a kick in the head. It hurt and I became disoriented.

Scourge roared in protest and James stayed silent.

"You looked so formidable in that arena I never thought you'd win but you did," he started his speech. "But now here you so pathetic so weak and worthless, then again you are a sla-"

Kenn cut him off, "Shut up!" he howled his electronic voice cracking. The stress was getting to all of us we really were breaking.

Talab didn't spare him a glance instead looking down at me. "You were an entertaining bunch but I think I want new toys." He walked up to a guard.

"I want all four executed now."

* * *

**A/N: Well things couldn't get worse...next chapter should be fun who knows what may happen. Also everyone thanks for reading :]**


	8. Chapter 8, The Retribution

**A/N: The latest chapter :]**

**N7warrior93: Everyone loves cliffhangers mate! Keeps the tension in the air :]**

* * *

Chapter 8: The Retribution

They shoved us into a kneeling position tied our hands behind our backs. I had lost all of my will to live. I stayed silent as they forced us side by side. My hair had grown and it now covered my eyes. My face was bruised, bleeding, and dirty. But I ignored the pain and kept looking down my eyes not really focusing at anything.

Kenn was crying softly to my right while Scourge was making a low rumbling sound. It sounded like a tiger. James was ever silent but kept his head up staring Talab right in the face.

I knew that I should have just ran away when I had the chance. I wouldn't have been in this mess. James lecturing me about honouring my beliefs, believing in my ideal for freedom for all robbed me of my own.

I kept my face lowered as tears silently fell off my face. I didn't have the strength to make any more noise. Each drop fell onto the cold unfeeling floor of Omega. Nobody gave a shit…

Talab started another speech about us being traitors. I tuned him out and focused more on my internal struggle. There would be no way I would be able to escape this situation. I was bound with several guards in the room who were armed with assault rifles.

I tried to look around for any escape routes the only one I knew of was the main door. I heard the very distinct sound of Clé sobbing. I looked at her in her cage as she looked at us distraught. I looked away at seeing her face. She would be left alone to face Talab.

I looked up through the roof at the Omega asteroid. I wouldn't die under stars instead under a stupid rock. I closed my eyes imagining the stars and my home.

I wondered what my family thought. Would they be proud that I tried to free everyone or disappointed I didn't take the opportunity to run away? It didn't really matter; they were in some other universe while I was in a different one. Far away all alone…

"I will have them executed with my favourite's sword" Talab said as I looked at him. He stared back smirking but I didn't care. Nothing I would do would change the situation. I then smirked, well at least I could make this harder for him.

"Now who to have killed first?" he mused looking at the four of us.

"Why not your favourite Talab" I said raising my head only to have it pushed down by the guard behind me. I tried to push back up and maintained eye contact. "Hurry up Talab, my swords hungry."

His smirk dropped as he nodded to the guard who then punched me in the back of my head dazing me. I felt something warm trickle down my neck and a sharp pain.

Clé shrieked as she hit the bars.

"It's my sword slave!" he ground out. I smirked again I had actually managed to piss him off. I loved the feeling.

"Have you even used i-" I was cut off by the guard punching me again. I fell forward forehead hitting the floor. The guard pulled my hair and pulled me up. But I wasn't done.

"Really Talab can't punch me yourself-" the guard punched me again but I ducked and the punch skimmed the top of my head. I then pushed back into the guard. Another quickly walked up and kicked me in the gut. I coughed blood as the air escaped my lungs.

Talab walked up to me and cupped my face. I stared at him. I could see all four eyes looking at me with pure loathing. I could see every hair. His _puke_ coloured skin- you know, like shit. I wanted to tear apart his eyes so much. I then spat in his face, more specifically his lower eyes.

He howled in rage and punched me hard sending me into Scourge he stayed steady as I hit him. He gave a chuckle and whispered. "Good job." I was quickly pulled back as Talab quickly washed the spit out of his eyes with water.

"You will regret that brat!" he shouted pulling up my sword. He unsheathed it and looked at James. "I'll have you watch all your friends die then carve you to pieces myself!"

My heart dropped as I struggled but was held in place. The guard yanked my hair and I stopped moving. James stayed calm as Talab walked towards him.

"No!" I shouted as Scourge roared but was held in place by two guards with steel chains. Kenn was just acting like a bitch as he continued crying. Kenn was really pissing me off with his crying. I tried standing up but was slammed to the ground. My face was pushed into the ground, but I still tried to move even though I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything.

Talab stood behind James and held up the sword ready to stab him in the base of his neck. James closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath which I couldn't hear.

He would die…He would if I didn't do anything. But I felt a sick sense of satisfaction. James prevented me from running away and he would die the first. It was his fault that I couldn't be free, was it?

"You will die slave!" he yelled as he stabbed downward. It was the wrong way to do so. The flat side of the blade was facing him and James. He held it sideways when he stabbed. I watched as the silver steel moved downward. The red light reflected off of it coating it crimson before it had even stabbed James.

Then in an instant James moved up and I heard a crack as Talab stumbled back. James whipped around and hands still bound ripped the sword out of Talab's hand and stabbed forward. The sword pierced Talab's flesh as he gave a scream which have me great pleasure. Purple blood fell off the end of the sword's tip as it exited Talab's back.

But the James yanked out the blade and sent it flying towards the guard behind me. It hit the guard in the chest. I ignored his screams as James grabbed Talab by the neck and slammed him into the wall.

"Die!"James hissed as he started to choke him. He let out wheezing breaths struggling to kick James. But James was over 7 feet tall compared to Talab's 5 and a half.

"Fire…" he wheezed out as the guards were snapped out of their stupor. They raised their guns and opened fire. The mass accelerator rounds tore away at his flesh but James remained standing as he kept his thumbs shoved into Talab's neck.

I could see every round exit the barrels and pierce the skin. Blood was flying everywhere. Throughout the event James didn't utter a single word. He stayed still his attention solely on Talab.

Then the firing stopped as the gun's overheated. Everyone looked at James who stood still and then suddenly fell forward his forehead hitting Talab in the face as a last act of defiance. Both fell to the floor James falling on top of Talab, who was giving hoarse screams.

Scourge gave a roar as he stood up the chains straining the guards tried pulling back but Scourge dragged them with him as he ran towards Talab fists raised. But before he could reach him he was also fired upon by two guards. He fell down half way their bleeding greatly but I could see his chest rise up and down.

He was still alive I thought with relief. But then I looked at James who was dead. Tears didn't enter my eyes I had cried too many. James was dead. But he died free; he defied Talab till his final moment.

I gave a chuckle realizing what he meant by sticking to your ideals. Even in death he taught me. I blinked away my tears as I looked at James' body. I was proud to have lived by him, he was a true man one who didn't sit by and watch the world go to hell. He was a man who would fight and I would fight as well.

If I ran away I would regret the decision the rest of my life. If I left no one would be free except me. Talab would search for me. He would torture those I held dear.

I looked towards Clé and Kenn who were both emotionally wrecked. Scourge was barley alive and everyone else was silent.

The guards quickly ran up to him and pulled off James body and started to apply medi-gel to Talab's wounds. He then stood up glaring at James. He gave the corpse a pathetic kick.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" he wheezed out as he was escorted by his guards towards the door. Limping like any normal person would after a severe injury. He wasn't untouchable at all, he could be hurt.

I looked behind me to see the sword sticking out of the corpse. No one noticed I quickly placed my hands over the sword and down the blade. I pulled back cutting my ropes. The guards didn't notice as Talab left the room. I grabbed the pistol from the dead guard's corpse. I raised it at the closest guard's head and fired.

The shot missed but by the time he was turning around I fired several shots into his armour the shields flickered briefly before giving away under fire. He fell down dead I didn't care he was a slaver. I looked around to see 4 more guards raising their weapons.

I rolled over the dead corpse and grabbed the hilt of the sword. Using it as a handle I propped up the corpse in front of me. I was surprised I had managed to do so, but working in horrible conditions for over a month would make anyone fit.

When the guards fired all the bullets hit the corpse. Thankfully it took all the rounds the force of the bullets strained my arm but I held strong. The fire died down they were stupid to all fire at the same time now all had to wait until their guns cooled down.

I peeked from the side of my makeshift shield and aimed at an unarmoured guard. He noticed me aiming and jumped out of the way as I fired my shots they all missed save for one hitting his leg. The Batarian screamed and fell down.

I kept firing from my cover and slowly inched my way towards Kenn. They then fired a second round again at the same time. The corpse shuddered as more rounds pierced it. Several rounds streaked past my head one even cutting my cheeks. It was hard to notice as my face was bloodied.

I reached Kenn and placed the barrel of the gun on the rope. One shot later Kenn was free but he was frozen in shock.

"Kenn move we need to get out!" I said, but he stayed still. I looked around to see the guards circling around. I fired several shots to push them back but the gun over heated.

The guards were about to surround me when I heard a loud cracking sound and the sound of flesh being pierced. Three more cracks and three thuds followed and I noticed all the guards were dead on the floor heads intact but there were holes in them.

I looked around but saw nothing then I heard a sound from the ventilation shafts. The cover was kicked off and jumped down a humanoid.

My jaw dropped recognizing the person instantly. The: green scaled skin, jet black eyes, the tight suit. Thane Krios stood before me.

"Here the keys, free the others" he said tossing me the keys from James' corpse. His voice was the same as it was in game but felt more real?

I dumbly nodded and picked up the keys in front of me. By the time I looked up he was gone. Looking around everyone else was just as confused. But they soon started shouting and demanding to be let go.

I quickly pulled Kenn up and started to open the cages. I freed all the slaves and they all rushed out like a mad mob. I fell to the ground as they pushed me over. Luckily no one stepped on me.

But I couldn't believe it Thane was actually here and he saved us. Perfect headshot no collateral damage! He must have had a contract on Talab. Whoever ordered it, I would give them anything.

"Khan!" I heard Clé shout as she kneeled down next to me giving a trill sound. Turians did cry like birds.

"I'm alr-" I started but she cut me off.

"No, your face it's bleeding!"

"Clé we need to get out of here first my face can come later" I said standing up. It was only me, Kenn, Clé, Scourge, the dead guards, and James' body left in the room.

I quickly ran over to Scourge. The bullets had pierced his body greatly but he was still breathing. I then looked closely at the wounds and to my shock I could notice very slowly his tissue being regenerated. Krogan healing was insane but it would take too long for us to wait.

"Kenn! We need to get lift Scourge out of here!" Kenn didn't move and stood still staring into nothing. "Kenn!" I called again and nothing.

I felt anger and walked up to him and shook his shoulders. Still he didn't budge. I then punched his face. He fell down and I gripped my hand knuckles throbbing in pain. But I made an act of ignoring it and looked down at Kenn. "Kenn you need to get yourself together!" I kneeled down and looked into his eyes. "You will get up and will help me in lifting Scourge!"

He gave a hesitant nod. I pulled him up with my other hand and patted his shoulder. "Good now get Scourge propped up."

"I-I will" he replied, voice small.

He went to do so; I meanwhile quickly retrieved my sword and placed it in its sheath. I tied the sword around my waist and pulled off 3 omni-tools from the guard I tossed two at Kenn and Clé and wore one. Then I went over to James' corpse. I almost fell down when I saw his face. A smile graced it. He looked peaceful and happy.

I knelt brushed my hands across his face. I found dog tags taking them off on the front it had the N7 logo. Turning them on the back it read; James Acker, 5823-CA-1876, Class N7.

I would return them to the alliance so his family would know that he did. I placed it around my neck.

"Thank you" I said bidding farewell and stood up slowly. I felt very sad but happy that he wouldn't experience anymore pain.

I walked over to Kenn who was straining as he placed Scourges arm over his shoulder. I quickly went to the other side and also placed his arm over mine. We both pushed up and nearly fell down.

"God he's heavy" I said. He had to be easily over two hundred kilos.

"Keelah! My suit wasn't built for this" Kenn said returning to normal.

"Well I don't even have an exoskeleton you shouldn't complain" I shot back unnecessarily.

Clé opened up the door and we walked over to it. We went down the halls and turned right this time heading towards the exit.

It was your typical door but one I would never forget. It had a small dent on the right side and some bullet holes on it. When it opened my heart pumped fast. Walking out we were in the courtyard where we worked all the time.

We reached the exit a small inconspicuous alley. We walked down but then I saw Clé staring at the courtyard. I looked as well and noticed the ugly copper building in which we were held. It was literally an ugly box shaped structure. Well Talab did have no sense of taste guess that's what happens when you sell your soul.

"Clé we need to move" I said. She looked up at both of us.

"We'll never come back right?"

"Of course we won't" Kenn replied.

"We are all going to go home now." I added smiling. "But we need to get to a safe place first."

We turned around for what I hoped would be the last time. I never wanted to come back to this place.

We walked down the alley Clé walked in front only a foot ahead of us. There was no place that was safe on Omega. Afterlife would be too dangerous heck I only knew one place on Omega.

"Kenn can you look up John's coffee shop?"

"I'm holding up a half ton Krogan, Khan."

"Well Clé just look it up on the map." She quickly did so at a speed that made me jealous. I was really slow with Omni-tools.

"It's just over 2 km north east." She said as she waved the tool at us causing ours to beep and display the route. "Who is he?" she asked.

"A friend of mine" I replied hoping the phone I gave him would be worth the price of sheltering us.

"This is going to be a long walk." Kenn complained again. I raised an eyebrow I never thought he would complain so often. But he was now free to act the way he sought fit.

"Let's go," I said.

We walked for over fifty minutes each step more painful than the last. We were only a couple hundred meters away from the location. I recognized the place it was that shopping district. No one paid us much heed. Guess it was normal for beaten up people to wander about Omega.

When we turned the final stretch I looked ahead to see the sign larger than before and it read.

"Ed's Café is it the same place?" Kenn asked.

"It is let's go."

* * *

"You're not going anywhere" I heard a Turian voice call out. Out of the alley stepped a Turian with grey plates and two Salarians trailing behind him. He held a small knife in his hands and pointed it towards me.

Clé quickly stepped behind us. I looked at him oddly not that threatened. I had fought more dangerous people than him and came out alive.

"Transfer your creds now," he said in a voice he thought was threating. To me it just sounded artificially deep kinda like a kid in puberty but with sub harmonics. It sounded amusing and my lips twitched. He was a teen.

"Get lost kid, I've got business to do." I said in what I hoped was a dangerous voice. It seemed to be, as the Salarians looked nervous and whispered to each other. I followed their eyes and they were on the sword. "If you don't leave I'll cut you up kid."

"Shut up and transfer the creds!" he yelled.

"Just give him the money Khan." Kenn said nervous.

"Yeah you better listen to your friend or else I'll carve up that little Turian slut."

I narrowed my eyes and let go of Scourge, Kenn placed him on the ground and pulled Clé back.

"Smarting up I see."

I then unsheathed my sword in an arc. The Turian jumped back narrowly missing the blade. I held it between us feeling confident for the first time in a while.

"You will leave now kid. If you don't your blue blood would look quite good on my sword." I said surprised at my own threat.

The Turian looked at his small knife and the meter long sword and gulped. The Salarians were already bolting out of the place.

"Hey! Wait for me!" the Turain shouted and ran dropping the knife. I sheathed the sword and picked up the knife and turned to Clé.

"Take it as a gift," I handed it to her. She examined it and held it tight.

"We didn't even have any credits to give him anyway" Kenn said as he looked though the Omni-tool.

"Well he wouldn't have believed us."

We picked Scourge up and made our way to the café.

It was larger than before. Still had open air but the chairs looked much more comfortable and the counter much larger and many other machines adorned the walls. It read closed on a sign but a familiar man was at the counter.

"Ah, sorry closed for the day." He said not looking up. We didn't move and he repeated, "Closed you can come back to…" he looked up at Sourge first, then at Kenn and then Clé and finally at me.

He stared for a moment looking at my face trying to recognize it. I did look very different. Longer hair beat up face and carrying a Krogan on my shoulder with a Quarian and a Turian child.

"Kid? What the hell happened!?" he shouted recognizing me.

"Can we rest, I'll explain later."

He quickly led us to the back. Opening a door he led us into a small room with a bed elevated up some steps. We placed Scourge down onto it my shoulder showering me in praise when I did so. Kenn fell down on a couch and promptly fell asleep; Clé did the same but on a smaller one.

It was like that room in Omega where you met those human refugees during Mordin's recruitment mission.

He quickly gave me Medi-gel and started applying it on Scourge. I rubbed it on my face and it stung a lot. I also applied it on my arms and knuckles. I washed my hands at the sink relishing the feeling of the running water.

Ed sat down on a chair bringing some bread and I sat down opposite to him feeling very tired. I immediately ate it up my stomach ravenous. It tasted like heaven, all Talab gave us was that nutrient paste.

"Nice place you've got running" I started.

"The phone you gave me sold for a nice price I was able to buy this place from my brother."

So he sold it, I felt sad that it was gone. But all I had on it were a few music files; I had gotten it only a day before 'The Incident.'

"He just sold it?"

"Well he owns dozens of shops around Omega." After a moment of silence Ed asked, "So I take it you didn't escape them?"

"Yeah I fell down a roof into an alley and then they got me."

"You were jumping across roof tops?" he asked disbelieving.

I chuckled feeling at ease around him. "A chase leads you to strange places, huh? I did fall and Kenn-"

He looked confused at the name, "The Quarian" I nodded towards him. "He found me but then they found us..." I fell silent as the memory came up. The utter helplessness I felt the moment my freedom was taken.

"You don't have to kid."

"Call me Khan, and I need to get this off my chest."

I then started to talk about what had happened to me with a stranger. About events that occurred over the course of the one month all the horrors that happened in that place and all the deaths.

Throughout my story he stayed silent. Over an hour had passed and I fell silent. I felt as though a lot had been taken off of my chest. I felt at ease.

"You've been through a lot Khan, you and your friends." He said looking over at the three sleeping. "But you need to remember that you made it out alive, move on in life."

I gave a slow nod and looked out the window into space. It was as calm as ever and as beautiful.

"Find a goal in your life and chase after it." He then stood up and walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulder. "Get some sleep you need it."

I went over to a couch adjacent to Clé and plopped down. My back felt great as something soft was underneath it. I closed my eyes and immediately fell asleep.

That night I dreamt of me standing on a Cliffside while a cool breeze rustled the grass.

* * *

**A/N: Well the slavery saga is over. The first arc is done! This arcs primary purpose was to develop my character into a person more suited for the cruelty of the Mass Effect universe. The story is far from over and the next arc will be very fun! But getting off of Omega requires a little work with a certain information broker. **


	9. Chapter 9, The Resolution

**A/N: New chapter!**

**RamenKnight: About no armor James is an N7 so he should have mechanical augmentations in his body which would stop the bullets. Also the guards fired at an angle to avoid shooting Talab. Since my character was in shock he didn't pay them much heed. (I know its a cheap fix...)**

**In caverns dark: Great job! You kinda predicted what would happen. I don't think Aria would really care much about my character. He didn't really lead the rebellion :[ **

* * *

Chapter 9: The Resolution

I woke up my body was completely refreshed. I looked around to see everyone else still sleeping. The clock read five am. Quietly I sat upright on the couch and leaned into the couch giving out a sigh.

I still couldn't believe that it was over. I was free and had James and Thane to thank for it. If I ever joined Shepard's crew I would personally thank Thane. He should remember me Drell, had perfect memory. Would I actually ever be able to join Shepard's crew? I didn't have any skills that were of special operations level. But I still had two years to train up.

I slowly stood up grabbing my sword and gun. I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself. My face still had many cuts on it but they were healing. The medi-gel was amazing. My facial hair had grown out a lot. My hair looked horrible all over the place and dirty; it had grown by an inch. I then looked into my eyes the same brown they had always been.

"You can take a bath" I heard Ed call from outside the bathroom. He was an early bird, guess he opened up early. "I'll leave you a change of clothes by the door."

"Thanks."

"No need to." He said and I heard footsteps a door open and close.

I took off my clothes and started to shower. I kept the water cold, it felt great on my skin. I hadn't bathed for nearly a month. The slavers did hose us with water for a couple seconds but that wasn't exactly a bath. I washed off all the dirt using the white foam from the box labelled soap; then some shampoo on my hair.

I stayed in the shower letting the cool water wash over me. I traced my finger on the scar at the base of my neck. I noticed I was still wearing the dog tags and amulet. I washed the dog tags but the amulet was not even dirty, still shining.

After down showering I noticed a new towel on the rack. Pulling it off it started to dry myself off and wear the set of clothes. They were some blue jeans odd fabric and a white t-shirt. I looked at myself in the mirror. My cheeks looked hollow due to my sad diet as a slave. I combed my hair back and then let the water run and I started to clean the sword and the scabbard. The purple blood easily came off and the blade shined brightly.

Tying it to my hip I opened the door I walked back out it was six am. Nearly an hour spent in the bath. I usually only took several minutes. Everyone else was still sleeping. Clé and Scourge were very silent but Kenn snored loudly.

I walked outside into the café area. It was empty but Ed walked around the place setting it up. I walked up to the counter noticing the material was better than before.

"Finally done." He said walking towards me and sitting across the counter preparing coffee. "Well now you look normal."

I stayed quiet watching the steam rise from the machine. When he was done he gave me a cup and one for himself. "The same as your first time."

"And just as good." I replied after taking a sip.

We stayed silent drinking the coffee. I looked over at the Omega skyline and the sun behind it.

"So what are you going to do now?" Ed asked.

"I don't know?" I replied truthfully. "Maybe go to the Citadel."

"It's not a cheap trip."

"How much?"

"Let's just say more than you could earn on Omega for a few months."

I fell silent pondering what to do. It would cost a lot of money to go to the Citadel. If I went there what could I do? Join C-sec? Weren't only trained personnel allowed to join, the best from all over the galaxy? I then thought about the others. I didn't know what they would do; Kenn would want to finish his pilgrimage, Scourge just wanted to distance himself from Tuchanka and Clé was without parents for the moment. She did talk about her father as though he were alive. I could escort her to them and give the Alliance James' tags, after that who knows what may happen.

"Well you can stay here for some time while you decide I owe you that much for your phone. Head on inside the customers are about to come."

I did as he said and inside I sat by the dining table and fiddled around with my new Omni-tool. Turns out there were no credits in it. I then spent the morning trying to figure out how the thing worked and surfed the extranet.

* * *

I walked up to Scourge seeing him shift on the bed. He gave a low rumbling groan and propped himself up against the bed frame. The bed creaked as he moved. I thought beds in the future were better designed.

"You doing okay?" I asked sitting at the foot of the bed sideways. He blinked his eyes rapidly and then looked around dazed.

"Khan?" he asked confused. "Where the hell am I? What happened?" he asked more urgent this time.

"Don't worry we're free. A Drell gave us the opening to escape." I said leaning on my knees hands between them,

"A Drell? Weird. Are the others fine?"

"They are and as you know James didn't make it." I fell silent thinking of the scene.

"I may not like brutality but he went down like a true warrior." He said thumping his chest.

"That he was. N7 to be exact." I flashed him the tags. He chuckled.

"How did I get here? Last thing I know I was being sprayed by bullets."

"Me and Kenn lifted you and carried you here"

He looked at me in shock, his mouth hung open for a moment. "What? How far did the two of you carry me?"

"About 2 km took us over an hour."

"Thanks." He said abruptly looking directly at me.

I just nodded knowing he wouldn't like to talk about it. No matter how civilized he acted there was still a Krogan pride deep down inside him.

I told him about the situation we were now in after finishing I stood up. "Well get some rest." I said patting his shoulder. He responded by giving me a light punch to my side. It hurt but I let it slide.

* * *

After an hour everyone was wide awake and we sat in the living room. We stayed silent not knowing how to start the conversation.

"So what now?" Kenn finally said.

"Well what do you want?" I asked.

"I just want to finish my Pilgrimage as soon as possible." He wringed his hands together nervous "And get off Omega as soon as possible." He whispered as an afterthought.

"Don't we all." I muttered. "Scourge what about you?"

"Haven't thought of it much, maybe go to Illium or the Citadel open a weapons shop."

"You're good with weapons?" Kenn asked.

"Of course! I grew up around them I'm better at taking them apart then firing them."

"You a mechanic?" Kenn said disbelieving. He was a Quarian all of them were tech wizards. "I find it hard to believe." Big mistake.

"Why is it because I'm a Krogan? I'll have you know that I'm not a mechanic but an inventor!" He said standing up. Clé looked at both nervous then at me. I shrugged my shoulders. It would be best if they could blow of some steam.

"Anything you've built has anyone actually bought it?" Kenn said staying seated. Guess Kenn would start talking if tech was involved.

Scourge fell silent and sat back down. "Well I haven't had the opportunity to sell any of my ideas." He grumbled.

"Well I won't believe it until I see anything."

"What can you do Quarian?"

"This." He said fiddling with his Omni-tool and mine lit up displaying a page on Quarian technical prowess. "As a Quarian tech is my realm of expertise."

"Why you-"

"Calm down guys" I cut in. "Scourge I'm sure you'll prove your skills soon. Kenn we know your talented with electronics but give Scourge a chance."

"Why the hell should I listen to you!?" Scourge shouted. I looked up at him tense, he was still a Krogan and could snap me in half. "Your bitching killed James!"

All of us fell silent. Scourge just snorted and sat down with a purposefully loud thud. I meanwhile just thought about what he said. If I didn`t run my mouth that much against Talab wouldn`t James be alive. I might be dead but he would live.

I looked at the dog tags. An N7 dead and me a nobody alive…I hated life.

"What about you Clé?" Kenn asked leaning forward. She sat opposite to me across the table, the other two sat on the table's empty sides.

"Well…I'd like to go home. To my parents, I mean wherever they are." She said glancing at the two. "I don't know how to get there."

"Where are they?" I asked.

"Palaven."

Kenn opened up a map. "Very far away, you'd have to go from here to the Crescent Nebula" A small holographic display appeared showing the galaxy. Omega's location was marked with red and what I assumed to be Palaven in blue. "Then the Eagle from there to Serpent then the Apien crest at the other end of the galaxy." Christ that was a long journey.

Clé looked down dejected.

"Don't worry I'll get you there." I said.

She looked up surprised, "Really?"

"I'm sure. Don't know about these two."

"I'll think about it." Kenn said.

"Me too." Scourge added.

"Well that's what I want to do. I'll get Clé home and give the Alliance James' tags, then who knows."

I went up to Ed as he came inside for some food. The others just watched the news. Some pirate raid in the nebula.

"I've decided to take Clé home do you know of any way off of Omega?"

"Well you could talk to a person I know." He cleaned the table and sat down. "He's a Volus located close to Afterlife. His name is Kor Von runs a travel agency talk to him." He transferred the coordinates to the place on my Omni-tool.

"Why him?"

"He's the type of guy who doesn't only take cash if you do him some favours he'll send you to your desired location."

"Can I trust him?"

"No" He quickly said. "He works for himself but if you work for him do so quickly."

I nodded and went inside. I took my gun and placed it on a magnetic clip Ed gave me and the Katana was always tied on me. I bid everyone farewell and went off.

I did feel nervous my first time walking alone in this place got me in a lot of trouble. This time would hopefully be much better. Ed said to not worry as I had a gun and slavers were rare on Omega. They usually didn't operate so close to Afterlife. Nobody expected them to no wonder Talab continued unnoticed. Aria did protect the people living under her it would tarnish her image if she didn't.

I calmly walked through the streets. It did feel bizarre walking in space station. Aliens walked around me and I behaved as though it were normal. I always did acclimatize well to situations. Besides I've been living in this place for over a month.

When I saw a group of Batarians I gripped my sword and made sure to distance myself from them. I did not like them. Period. After they just sat by and watched as people became slaves. They were all bastards I never actually saw a good Batarian in the games. Were they all bad? I wondered. They could be…

I kept walking and an hour later navigating through the bizarre structures of Omega I arrived at the location. Thankfully nothing happened save for a rude Turian pushing his way through the crowd.

There was a shop that read Kor's Expeditions. I walked inside and found pictures of starships along the walls and many posters. The pictures in them moved, some displayed the Citadel as a vacations destination. Earth was also there surprising me. Were humans already a cultural force in the galaxy?

"Ah Earth—clan. Welcome to Kor's—Expedtions." I heard two inhaling sounds and turned around, behind the counter stood a volus. He was very short he wore a grey suit with green stripes on it.

"Kor I presume?" I asked and he nodded.

"What is it you'd like earth—clan a trip to the towering skyscar—pers of Illium. Or a nice relaxing week—on Thessia."

"I'd like to go to Palaven."

"Ah the planet of—steel a very long trip—and costly." He said looking at my attire. I didn't look like someone who could afford the trip.

"How much?"

"17,000 credits per person." That was a lot of money. Around 90,000 if all of us wanted to go.

"How much for a child?"

"12,000 if they are below—12 years." I frowned that was still a lot of money.

I leaned on the counter and looked at him my face serious. "I've heard that you'd like some work done?"

He stared back silent and assessing. "Indeed earth clan. I do—have a task that needs to be—done with haste."

I pointed at my gun and sword. "I'll do it for you."

He looked skeptical for a moment but then nodded, "Very well, I have lost—possession of a data drive, which—I would like you to retrieve."

"Who stole it?"

"A gang of Volus—They call themselves—the Sons of Irune. A member of the gang should—be at a nearby bar—If you would follow him—you would be able to reach their—base and take back my drive." A gang of Volus that was…odd? It was surprising I never took them for fighters.

"How many members do they have?"

"Around 4 there—not really a gang, just a—group of halfwits thinking—they can take the world—by storm." He gave me the coordinates of the member. "If you retrieve it—I'll reward you well."

"You better hold your end of the bargain." I held out my hand. He shook it as a universal gesture of a deal done.

"Trust me—Earth clan. A Volus always—holds their end of—the deal." I really didn't trust him. When I came back I would do so with Scourge. Hopefully seeing a Krogan with me would intimidate him. Then again Scourge was pretty short for one…and he did insult me.

* * *

I arrived at the bar. It was very loud, techno music playing everywhere and people shouting all over the place. I ignored the noise and looked around trying to locate the Volus. It was hard to look around with all the lights flashing over the place.

I walked around the bar searching and trying to act discreet. No one paid me any heed and stay focused on their drinking and partying.

"I then stuck a spear—through that Krogan!" a Volus shouted, given away by the distinctive hiss of the suit. I turned around to see the Volus wearing a jet black suit, no other colours on it. His eyes sockets on the suit had a red light in them. He was standing on top of a table with a crowd around him.

"The Krogan he—cried like a wuss and I—through him into the wall a—nd walked up to the—leader. He fell to his knees—a battle master on his knees!" he laughed and swayed dangerously on the table. "I then made him—swear his life to—me…" He started to spin on the table.

"What happened then?!" A human shouted chugging down a bottle of beer.

I shook my head; this had to be the guy. There was no other Volus in the bar. But a drunk Volus was hilarious their mechanical voice sounded very odd.

"I then killed him!" he finished lamely and the crowd actually cheered in a drunken chorus. Drinks really did screw up the human mind and alien one. "No one could defeat—a Son of Irune!" Well a confirmation good.

I waited in the corner drinking some Pepsi I bought with the money Ed gave me. It was still around which was weird. Eventually the bar closed and I followed the Volus out into the alley. He stumbled around bumbling incoherent nonsense. It would be a long walk judging by him hitting the wall six times in a space of one minute.

I followed him at a distance of ten meters. The suit released some green fluid from a hole in it. I quickly looked away. He gave a sigh of pleasure as he emptied his load in the alley. I could smell it all the way here.

He then stood up and used the wall as support as he trudged out of the alley. I followed him for nearly an entire hour. I had a feeling I would spend the entire night watching him stumble about the streets.

"Yeah, could you—pick me up?" he said into his Omni-tool. "I'm at district 12-C." He then sat down against the wall. Well he was calling friends hopefully they didn't have a car.

Nearly half an hour later two Volus arrived. They looked different… One had a pure white suit with blue lights in the eyes. The other wore two horns on his head and an army camouflage coloured suit.

I hid behind a dumpster as they lifted him up and started to walk. I trailed them and listened in on their conversation.

"Stupid fool—getting drunk is unbecoming—of a son." The one with the horns complained.

"Well he did retrieve that—drive for us." The other replied. So they did have it they really weren't a bright bunch.

"Still as a son—he took a vow to—control himself."

"Well the boss is the only—one who actually follows—the vow."

"I do!"

"You and—the boss."

They stopped talking and walked for over an hour and soon arrived in front of a small warehouse. They entered and I rested against the wall. I had been walking around for a long time still nothing on Talab. May he burn in hell.

I stood up and walked up to the main door, it was locked so I looked around the building for a way inside. Eventually I found an open window by the side. I looked around to see no one around, and then I started to climb up the wall. These futuristic walls had a lot of grooves to place my hands on. I pulled myself up to the window and looked inside. It was a small room with two small beds against the wall. I pulled myself inside and walked quietly through the room.

I searched the place and found nothing then I realized something. I didn't even know what a data drive looked like. I smacked myself on the forehead. Well it had to look like a large floppy of some sort and look important.

I quietly walked out of the door and into the hall. The place was eerily quiet. I couldn't hear any conversations. I searched the entire place and found nothing. There was also no one in the building. It was unsettling I kept a tight grip on the gun.

I then walked to the main living room and found all the furniture turned over forming a makeshift ring. I gasped as my mind flashed back to the arena. I shook my head and tensed when I heard heavy breathing.

Whipping around I pointed my gun at the horned Volus. "So you are the—one who has been trailing us."

"You knew?" I asked shocked.

"Of course we did—we are the Sons of Irune." The white suited one stepped out beside the horned one. "Why have you—been following us?" he said lifting a shotgun. I gulped and kept my gun trained on the unarmed one.

"I just need to take back a thing for a friend."

"Which friend?" A deep amplified voice spoke with power and authority almost like a Reaper. It sent shivers up my spine.

I glanced over my shoulder to see another Volus standing in the center of the Arena. He held a spear and wore a silver blue suit. He also wore a cape. The voice did not match his stature it looked absurd in reality. Was he compensating for something with that voice?

"None of your business."

"If you want to—live then it is." Okay that sounded very intimidating. The voice, not the Volus.

I looked back at the shotgun and sighed. "Kor Von wants his data drive back."

"Oh this drive" he held up a small floppy disk type device. "Well somebody else—wants this."

"Who?"

"The Queen of Omega." He said.

"Why does she want it?"

"Your friend is a spy for the Shadow Broker." Shit! this just got very complicated very fast. "If you know what is best for—you I suggest you leave."

If I left I would be stuck on Omega for months and Clé would be separated from her parents. I had to retrieve that drive.

"Since you are the leader I challenge you for the drive." I said hoping they had some sort of honor system.

"Very well…" he said. I looked at him shocked not really expecting him to say yes. "As the leader of the Sons I have a duty to defend and uphold my honour."

"Uh, yeah an honorable duel between us may it be fought with—ahem grace." I hastily said coughing at the end.

"Only your sword and my—spear. If you win you become—a kin to us and get the drive—if I win you will lose your sword arm."

"I accept." I said entering the arena and unsheathing the blade that had protected my life so many times.

"The name is Iru Sor." He introduced himself.

"You may call me Khan."

He held his spear. It looked to be made of steel cutting it would not be an option. My blade had to be stronger in build so I could afford to put pressure on it. Parrying and a stab seemed like a good idea.

I kept the blade between us as we started to circle. He moved very slowly but had controlled and measured steps. He was a trained fighter. I felt nervous as I had never fought one; the ones I fought were in the same position as me. But hopefully his body size would limit him.

He then raised his spear and attacked. Shocked by the sudden burst of speed I barley raised my blade in time to swipe the spear to the side and side step. He quickly turned around ignoring as his back hit the couch. His fat absorbed the impact.

I could only gape in shock at the insane display of speed. I barely had time to react he stomped his foot and charged again. This time I moved to the side but he angled his spear to attack my stomach. I spun on my left heel dodging it and swung my blade towards him but it just flew over his head.

"You can defeat—him boss!" the white suited one cheered.

I quickly moved away mentally berating myself. He was a Volus very short; I was used to fighting people near my height.

"Your reflexes are—good but it is clear you—are new to fighting." He said cocking his head to the side.

"Your pretty fast yourself for a Volus."

"I have trained—in the art of Plenix."

I kept my distance and he came again and again, each time reaching closer to my skin. He cut me several times. I managed a cut on his suit as well. But he did have the advantage.

He relied on stabbing a lot. The spear had a reach of around one and a half meters. I then realized suddenly he was at his fastest when he was close to me. He took time to build up that speed at the start of each he was relatively slow. If I got within the spears turning point and stayed there I would be able to land a hit.

He charged at me and me at him. He raised his spear and I my sword he suddenly veered left. I couldn't move fast enough, so I rolled onto the ground and out of the way. Getting up I charged at him as he was turning. He stabbed towards me but I was faster and my body was past the tip of it. The smooth metal hit my skin as he quickly swung it but it didn't hurt much. He tried to move back but I stayed right on top of him.

He dodged my slash with amazing agility but suddenly he tripped and fell onto his back. I was on him instantly and placed the blade at his neck. I felt a point prickle my side; he held his spear sideways ready to stab my stomachs side.

I didn't realize it but I was grinning as I looked down at him. We stayed in that position me on top of him and both ready to stab each other. Mines would kill him and his injure me severely.

"I yield." He said.

I got off him and offered him my hand. He took it and pulled himself up. The other two Volus looked at him and me in shock.

"You—beat Boss?" the horned one muttered disbelieving. "But the—Plenix is unbeatable."

"Anything can be beaten Gor—there is always someone more skilled than you in—the galaxy" he said sagely. "The Galaxy is a large place."

"You're more skilled than me I just have an advantage as a human." I said. He was a skilled combatant more than me. If I were a Volus he would have destroyed me completely.

"The praise is appreciated—Khan but you beat me—Gor the drive." The horned one, Gor went to get the disk. "Khan you have talent—you are a friend of the Sons of Irune."

"Why set up on Omega?"

"It is lawless I wish to—bring order to the place—Help the weak." I nodded. He had very noble intentions. "But you have shown me—that I am too weak—I'll be going back to Irune—to perfect the Plenix."

"What about us—boss?" the white suited one asked.

"You will be coming with me." He stated.

Soon Gor came back with the black square in his hands. He handed it over to me, I quickly pocketed it.

"Well, I'll be leaving then good luck with your training Iru." I said bending at my waist slightly. He reciprocated the gesture.

"Good luck Khan in your future—battles."

* * *

I arrived back at Kor's shop. It was still open at eleven in the night. I walked inside and he looked up at me and gasped.

"You're alive—earth clan!" he muttered shocked. My eyes narrowed, no wonder he sent me off thinking I would die.

"Would you rather have me dead?" I said icily.

"No, No I was—just worried earth clan." He said realizing his slip up. I didn't believe a word he said. "Do you have the—data?" he asked nervous pressing a button and the windows turned black.

I pulled it out.

"Ah hand it-"

"I need my tickets first."

"Hand it over and—I'll give you a tickets

"Do you think I'm stupid Kor? I know who you work for. This info is worth a lot."

"I'll give you two." He ground out. I could surely blackmail more out of him.

"I'm sure Aria would love this info-"

"Fine!" he shouted and breathed heavily. "I'll give you as—many as you wish."

"Hand them over four tickets to Palaven the quickest departure." He did as I told him and placed four small cards on the counter.

"The quickest ship leaves the day after tomorrow at two in the afternoon."

I took the cards and gave him the drive. He quickly took it and placed it under the counter.

"A pleasure doing business with you Kor."

"Like wise—earth clan. You are in—the Broker's favor." I felt unsettled by the last comment. I didn't know if it was a good thing that the Shadow Broker knew about me.

I walked to Ed's apartment the it was the same as in the morning. People still moved about the station had no concept of night. I arrived at twelve.

Entering the door I heard several shouts and I fell into the door as Clé tackled into me sniffling. I awkwardly patted her shoulder. Looking up Kenn was looking at me angry if his narrowed eyes were an indication. Scourge looked amused and Ed just interested.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kenn said walking up to me. He didn`t shout but his voice was aggressive.

"He's been fighting" Scourge commented looking at the cuts on my arm.

Turns out they tried calling me multiple times on my Omni-tool I never noticed since the thing was on mute. Of course they didn't believe me.

Clé sat next to me holding onto my arm. It hurt but I let her do it she was very emotionally shaken. I didn`t know she was this attached to me.

"I was doing something while I was gone." I quickly said breaking Kenn`s rant. I pulled out the four cards and placed them on the table. "Four tickets off this god forsaken station."

Everyone just looked at me and the cards in shock.

Scourge than gave a loud laugh. "Ha! You bastard! You actually got them!"

"How did you?" Ed asked examining them. "Their real, how'd you convince Kor?"

I explained what happened in detail. I left out the Shadow Broker part just saying he was spying on Aria. I didn't mention the Volus gang, no need to tell them that much. But I knew that Ed could see through my lie. Thankfully he didn't press much.

"He is a sly guy." Kenn said holding his ticket. "They're for Palaven?"

"You can get off at any location along the way." Ed supplied. "You're leaving on Friday at two, a day to get ready."

"Are we really going?" Clé asked looking at the ticket in wonder then up at me in hope.

"Of course we are. I'll get you home." I said patting her head. I doubted the other two would go all the way. Scourge for sure wouldn't maybe Kenn.

* * *

**A/N: Yep finally going to get off Omega :] Conflict with in the group. My character will have to earn the right to order Scourge around. Again still learning to stand up in the universe. Don't worry gun fights will happen soon this won't be a sword fighting story only. Thanks for reviewing and have a great time!**

**Updates may become slow as exams are a month away and cumulatives starting. **

**Oh and I think that my Summary isn't that strong. Could any of you provide some tips to improve it?**


	10. Chapter 10, The Impact

**A/N: The latest chapter!**

**Thanks for the reviews, the most per chapter! Once again thank you :]**

**I won't respond to reviewers in the AN anymore. I think it might artificially inflate the word count. So I'll try via PMs. If its a plot hole I'll address it here so everyone can see, or even a question. I might comment on an interesting bit in anyone's reviews. **

* * *

Chapter 10: The Impact

I walked forward towards the landing pad a duffel bag hung over my shoulder. Clé walked next to me with a smaller backpack. Ed had given all of us some new bags with some extra clothing inside. He told me even they weren't enough to pay for my phone. I was always welcome to his café whenever I came to Omega.

"I really can't believe I'm actually getting off this station." Kenn said clutching his ticket tight. He walked behind me alongside Scourge. "Hopefully I can get back to the flotilla…" he whispered to himself but I heard him. I had a knack for listening in. He did have every right to be back there. I wouldn't stop him, even though I got him the tickets. His choice, that's what freedom is, making your own choices.

"Why go back? Don't you have a pilgrimage?" I asked

He looked up at me surprised, "Well I'd like to go somewhere safe. Recompose myself and head out again."

We walked up to the ship. It was around fifty meters long, had a boxy shape to it, very Spartan. There were windows lining the sides. I could see people already aboard the ship. I looked at the large metal detector type device. Beside it were two security guards, bought Blue Suns mercenaries.

We gave them the cards they then scanned them through a machine and instructed us to walk in. When we walked through the detector went off.

"Do they have permits?" one asked the person on the scanner.

"Yeah they do." He replied. I breathed a sigh of relief. I did owe Kor one for giving me a good ticket. Guess he wanted me to trust him. It was an appreciated gesture but I still wouldn't trust him with anything. He was an information broker, selling secrets was his trade.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, sir." I gave a small chuckle; it was the same line as the Turian guard on the citadel in Mass Effect 3.

"No problem." I said picking up my bag and following Kenn inside. It looked very similar to a train's interior but more first class. Guess technology had evolved enough for them to be able to make spacious interiors at a cheaper price.

We found our seats near the rear and placed the bags in the cubbies, then sat down. Clé sat next to me Kenn and Scourge across us.

"So what's the route?" I asked Kenn.

"We'll first be going to the Amada system to refuel. They say it's cheaper over their then come back here and jump of the relay to Illium." He replied looking at the schedule on his Omni-tool.

I gave a frown at the detour but it couldn't be helped. At least we were leaving.

"How long will it take?"

"Around an hour at most it's a short trip."

I nodded and leaned into my seat. I did feel giddy inside, this would be the first time I would be inside a space ship. To actually travel between systems would be amazing.

"This is your pilot speaking we will be departing shortly." A Turian spoke on the intercom.

Scourge snorted, "Turians can't fly a paper plane let alone a spaceship." I wisely stayed silent not wanting to make him angry. His comment still hurt.

Soon I heard the doors seal shut and a humming sound fill the ship. That had to be the element zero core powering up. Then with a lurch the ship separated from the dock. It slowly turned around and started to move out. I looked outside at the large structures of Omega passing by. It looked like when the Normandy came to Omega and the cut scene occurred. This was infinitely more realistic than that. I could see small ships flying around the lights on each building. The place was full of life.

Soon we left Omega and I looked back at the station itself. It looked very foreboding the largest thing I'd ever seen. It was alone against the blackness of space and glowing red. Finally I would be leaving that place and never come back; unless I joined Shepard's crew. I looked over to see Clé also looking at the station with wide eyes.

"First time seeing it from the outside?" I asked. She gave a nod. "It's quite intimidating."

"My people call it the land of opportunity." Scourge added. "Opportunity my quad! I got captured by slavers while setting up a shop… Why do you humans call it Omega?"

"Well Omega is the last letter in a certain human language. Might mean the end of civilization." I guessed. It was kind of true. In Omega there was no civilized society only brute force was respected; only with it could you survive. "What do the Quarians call it?" I asked Kenn.

He said something which I didn't understand. "It's a Quarian word meaning the center of evil. Similar to the Asari meaning."

"We call it the World without law." Clé added nervously. She really needed to be more confident. But I couldn't blame her. Being a slave was hard. "That's the meaning of the Turian word." She hastily added as if making a mistake. I slightly shook my head; it would have a permanent effect on all of us.

Soon the ship entered FTL and everything outside turned into a weird warp. The stars seemed to stretch and then it was pitch black outside.

"First time on a ship?" Kenn asked. I gave a small nod seeing no point in hiding it. "We're inside a massless corridor at the moment. Once at the system we'll exit and cruise to the fuel station." He explained.

Soon we fell silent all trapped inside our own thoughts. I looked around the ship seeing species of all kinds on it. Though there were mostly Turians, not a big surprise. The only Krogan was Scourge and the Turians did stare. To Scourge's credit he ignored them.

I opened up extranet and thought of looking up Earth. When the familiar blue marble came up I felt happy. It was still my planet. I looked up on it and found its economic capital to be NYC. That did surprise me I thought that China or India would have overtaken the US.

Looking up further more history and found that all of North America was united under the United North American States. Or UNAS. As soon as they did so they quickly regained economic momentum and pushed past China and the EU as the dominant superpower. But soon after they formed the Systems Alliance.

Canada was semi-autonomous and my home city was doing great. Second largest city in the Americas, after the energy wars it was one of the few cities left untouched by the conflict. Vancouver was the Alliance's military headquarters. Since Bioware was based in Canada they did have some national pride.

I then decided to look up Shepard. On the official alliance page she had her own webpage. She was a girl looked like the default female from Mass Effect 3. A redhead with green eyes… She was a spacer and a war hero, so a paragon background. She had a lot of service medals on her. There was even some footage in which she rallied the forces against the Batarians on Elysium.

I used some headphones to listen in. Jennifer Hale's voice no doubt. The quality was very good and I felt myself get pumped up by listening to her speech. Unfortunately it was short only a minute long. It ended when Shepard leapt out of cover and into the enemy.

On the side of the webpage there were many recruitment ads. Could I join the Alliance after I dropped Clé off? No it would be too restrictive. I wouldn't be able to move around and I doubted that in two years I could be skilled enough to be put on the Normandy through normal training, there was N school, but I doubted I'd make it.

I didn't realize it but suddenly the darkness vanished and we were in another system. I could see the sun at the centre and our ship approached a large green gas giant. My face was glued to the window as I looked at the planet. It was amazing dwarfing Omega and so grand in scope. I really felt insignificant in comparison to it.

The ship docked at a fuel station and stayed there for a while. Kenn kept doing something on his Omni- tool as well as Scourge he actually seemed to be drawing something. I was about to comment on it when I heard whispers around the cabin. They were there before but this time there was an urgency to the voices.

"Do you see that ship out the window?" I heard an Asari mutter to a human.

I looked outside and did see a ship approaching ours. It was pretty far away but I could make out the shape. Much more angular than this ship and it moved very fast.

"Slavers" I heard Scourge growl out. The entire cabin fell silent. "A Batarian ship only they have those shapes a frigate to be exact."

I felt fear seize me but I shook myself out of it and quickly pulled down my bag. Opening it I found my gun and sword. Wearing both I kept looking out as the ship came closer. The people in the cabin started to panic and soon shouting filled the place. Clé grasped my arm I gave her a weak smile hoping it would reassure her. It didn't she was smart enough to know something bad was about to happen.

The Captain's voice the filled the intercom. "Attention passengers a Batarian slaver craft is headed our way. Brace yourselves this is going to be a rough ride." Well, we would go down with a fight.

"Nobody willingly submits themselves to Batarians." Scourge said. "That's why they have a frigate. They'll be in firing range soon and then board."

The shouting didn't stop. In fact it made the people more hysterical. But I noticed that most Turians weren't afraid they were calmly talking to each other and pulling out weapons.

"Everyone calm down!" I heard a Turian shout two rows in front of us. He was about seven feet tall had an air of authority around him. His skin was grey and he had the same facial tattoo that Nihlus had. He was wearing armour as well. It was black in colour, looked like standard Turian armour. "Sit down and prepare yourselves for a boarding!"

Everyone was silent as they looked at him.

"Why the hell should I trust a Turian!?" A human shouted. Que the racist sentiments to start flaring…

"Watch what you say human!" The Turian next to the tall one stood up. The leader pushed him down.

"Then don't trust me and let the slavers take you." Was all he said as he started to go around the cabin. "Anyone with weapons stand up." He said looking around, his eyes landed on Scourge. A Krogan would be a great asset.

If I stood up I would be fighting slavers Batarians...They took me as a slave and I would make them pay for it. If I didn't fight I would be taken again and there was no way in hell I would let that happen.

I stood up with determination, he looked at me nodding. Kenn looked up at me shocked and Scourge also stood up. Then Kenn stood up at last. He did have a pistol on him from the escape, Scourge had an assault rifle. Out of the three of us I knew he was the best shot.

Several other Turians stood up another Human and then no one else. He looked around one last time. "All of you who stood up follow me."

I looked down at Clé then up at a feminine looking Turian. "Could you take care of Clé?" I asked. She gave a nod and scooted over her seat. "Clé stay with her until I'm back." I said.

She didn't move and looked up at me, "Will you guys come back?"

"Of course we will a Krogan doesn't fall easy. Khan here's not that bad of a fighter and Kenn will be fine as long as he stays out of my way." Scourge 'encouraged.' It seemed to have the effect as she gave a small smile and walked over to the female Turian.

"Anyone not fighting gather near the Centre they won't aim their!" The leader yelled. Made sense they wouldn't want their slaves killed.

I quickly went up to the large Turian his name was Septimus. He explained the plan to us. We were to firstly make sure that they did not breach the ship; then storm their ship and take it over. Then we would tow this one to a secure dock. Very simple and hopefully effective.

Most of the Turians had Assault Rifles only: me, Kenn and the Human had pistols. We were placed further away from the door near the cockpit. But we still had a clear firing line to it. Sourge was close to the door with the lead Turian. Everyone tensed as the pilot manoeuvred the ship around. I held on to a seat as the pilot pulled of stomach churning turns. Looking out the window I could see a flash from their ship. They had started to fire upon us.

So far our pilot seemed to be able to dodge the shots. But it did make me feel queasy. Also if one of those shots didn't land on the engines and hit the centre everyone would be dead. It felt weird trusting my life to someone I didn't know.

"Nervous?" I asked Kenn hoping for some king of distraction.

"What kind of a question is that?" He replied baffled.

"Just trying to work off my nerves."

"By talking? I'll never understand you human." Well I would never understand Quarians. Who wouldn't want to talk before they would lose the chance to in the next few moments.

Then it happened I heard an explosion from the rear and the ship jerk violently. I lost my footing and fell onto the floor as it shook from the impact. I heard screams from the civilians.

"We've been hit!" The pilot yelled over the intercom.

"Great job in stating the obvious" I muttered. Kenn pulled me up and looked around nervous. Thankfully the fire had been contained.

"They'll be boarding soon. Get ready." Septimus ordered.

I raised my pistol and went into a crouch. I wasn't really a good shot I had only fired the thing a few times. I was nervous as hell this time an entire frigate full of slavers would be headed our way. I could tell that the ship had stopped moving as fast as was before. Now we were just drifting in space as that frigate came closer.

After a tense minute the ship shook. The frigate had attached itself.

"Aim" Septimus said. I did exactly as told as did everyone else.

I could hear loud footsteps from beyond the door and talking. I gripped my pistol tighter. Then the door opened. The reply was instant.

"Fire!" Septimus shouted as all of us started pulling our triggers and unloading mass accelerator rounds beyond the door. There were five Batarians with their guns raised but they never expected so much fire from us. One Turian fired off an overload, all of their shields sparked. Weakened they quickly fell down dead. I didn't feel any remorse, they deserved to die.

"Move forward!" He ordered and with pure discipline the Turians started to move ahead into the frigate as a cohesive unit. I followed behind them we entered the frigate; the Turians had taken up positions behind these small pieces of metal extending from the walls. I quickly took up position behind one.

Peaking around no one noticed me. Raising my pistol I aimed but almost dropped it as bullets flew towards me. I quickly moved back into cover breathing heavily. I nearly lost my nerves there. I gulped and blind fired hoping to provide some assistance.

"Krogan! Move ahead with the humans we'll provide suppressing fire." Shit I had to run into the open. I heard Scouge roar and I knew it was time I moved out of cover and followed Scourge. The Batarians fired towards me but they quickly moved behind cover as the Turians opened fire. I too fired some shots and quickly crouched down next to a table.

"You actually moved up with me Khan. The other Humans still hiding behind his cover" Scourge said with what I hoped was praise.

"Couldn't leave you all alone now could I?" I replied ducking as shots flew overhead.

"You better keep up then." With that he moved out of cover and fired. I looked up at him confused. "Move out we need to provide the Turians with cover!" He ordered. Quickly getting out of my stupor I did as he said. Standing up I fired as fast as I could towards the Batarians. One of my shots actually hit one in the chest, but his shield took the impact. But then he was taken down with a burst of fire from Scourge.

Septimus was next to us in moments. Slowly but surely we started to move forward taking down the slavers. These Turians had military experience they moved with too much efficiency. The slavers were no match. I wasn't much help expect for supressing the enemy. That was the easiest task just fire in their general direction. The frigate was small and soon we arrived at the cockpit. It was barricaded. The ship only had one floor and this was their last position.

Eventually we overwhelmed their position. I mostly stayed in the back and provided suppressing fire. I wasn't really good at actually landing shots on them. Kenn was better than me at shooting which did irk me.

"Get everyone on board this ship!" Septimus shouted as he started to look at the controls. I moved back through the frigate. There were corpses everywhere, only two on our side were injured. I moved into the passenger ship and told everyone to board the frigate.

About half the people were inside when it happened. A massive explosion tore through the frigate. I fell down Clé falling on top of me. Screams were everywhere and I heard something snap shut. Looking up I saw that the frigate had detached violently from the passenger ship. Looking around the frigate everyone was shouting in chaos.

I stood up and pulled Clé close, as me and Kenn pushed our way forward through the crazed crowd. Well, it was more like following Scourge. Everyone gave him a wide berth.

"To the escape pods the ships going to crash into that planet!" A Turian shouted. I could see the planet as we arrived in the cockpit. It was green in colour and the size of earth. We were approaching it fast.

"What happened!?" I shouted as Septimus quickly went past us I followed him.

"Failsafe if someone other than a Batarian touched the controls the engines would blow up after the ship aimed itself at the nearest planet!"

He started pushing people into the escape pods. A crowd came rushing at us. I fell down and felt Clé's hand leave my grasp. I felt a foot hit my head and then blackness.

* * *

"Khan get up the ship is going to crash!" I could hear Kenn shout. I opened my eyes and saw red lights all over the place. It looked like the Normandy when the collectors attacked it.

I quickly stood up and looked around to see only me and Kenn no one else in sight. I gulped. "Where is everyone?" I asked dreading the answer.

"All the escape pods are gone, t-the mob came rushing at us. Someone kicked my head and I fell unconscious." He explained looking around in panic.

"Are you sure there aren't any left?"

"I'm sure we need to get to the engine room fast!" he said as he started to run towards the cockpit. I followed him as he quickly went down a set of stairs. We were soon in front of a large eezo core. It looked broken but was intact. Kenn pressed some buttons and the door closed.

"The engine room is the most fortified part of the ship." He said very quickly as he paced around rapidly pressing hologram and buttons. "We should be able to survive here if the planets a garden world. The thick atmosphere will slow our rate of descent. Hopefully we land in an open field or a forest."

"Kenn" I said hoping to break him out of his nervous talk.

"But what if we hit a mountain range. What if it isn't a garde-"

"Kenn!" I shouted grabbing him by his shoulders. "Calm down!" He looked at me his eyes wide. Couldn't really blame him our survival depended on luck alone now. At least Clé would make it out alive. As well as Scourge I did feel good for him as he was a slave with me.

Both of us sat down close to the centre holding the railings tight. Kenn sat next to me doing the same. Suddenly the ship started to shake extremely violently. I could hear the ship's super structure groan as it tried to stay intact.

"We're in the atmosphere. Its' shaking, good it should be thick." He said voice quivering.

I felt really scared. I had no control over what was about to happen. Death was literally an inch away from me. I felt anger at Alcadeias again but looking at the amulet I felt comforted for some strange reason.

I stayed silent clutching my sword tight with my other hand hoping it would somehow protect me. Then suddenly I heard an extremely loud noise of steel hitting the ground. Then all I knew was darkness.

* * *

I blearily opened my eyes and blinked several times. I was greeted with a green blue sky and smoke in the air. It was very hot easily in the mid-thirties, I was starting to sweat. I tried to move my body, but a large weight pressed down on everything below my neck. I tried to move my neck; around me was only smoke and twisted steel. I could feel my hands gripping something it was the hilt of my sword. The other gripped a metallic rod.

I also felt weird at the base of my head. It felt prickly very hard to describe.

But I couldn't believe it. I had actually survived the crash...first slavery now a crash landing, fate was weird in this reality laying down such an interesting path for my life. First order of business was to get this slab of metal off me.

I pushed up with all my might but my hands wouldn't move. Trying again a sharp pain shot through my hands. I gave a sigh and stopped and looked over to my side. I really hoped that Kenn was also well; we were in the same location so his odds of survival were as good as mine, if not more due to his suit.

Then suddenly the pressure on my chest increased as something stepped onto the plate. Craning my neck I nearly fainted. Two reptilian eyes looked into mine. The creature was around a meter and a half tall and was built like a raptor. I nervously looked at the two long claws on each hand. Its mouth looked like a curved beak and it had spikes all over its body. The thing gave a menacing growl and I did wet myself...

"Nice kitty. Just go back to your milk bowl." I said. It responded by stepping fully onto the slab and gave a small roar. Come to think of it I was its milk. I then did the only thing I thought would help me.

"Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. It came out much weaker then I hoped as the thing was pressing down on my chest and as a result my lungs.

The thing moved back slightly as soon as the extra weight was gone, I screamed even louder. "Get the hell away from me! You overgrown chicken!" The creature gave another roar and jumped onto the slab. Air was forced out of my lungs. It then crouched positioning its head above mines. Its eyes had a vertical blue rectangle for an iris. It opened its mouth showing the many rows of sharp teeth. They were all angled backwards.

It raised its head and struck down but halfway in the strike I could hear gunfire. The creature quickly looked up startled. I then heard a roar, a Krogan roar. Scourge tackled into the animal and sent it flying off me. I heard a sickening snap.

"You still managed to survive" Scourge muttered grinning. He kneeled down and pulled of the steel slab. I used my sword as a prop to stand up. Looking over the creature's neck was stomped on and bent. Krogan were strong even one as small as Scourge. I could feel my chest ache but thankfully nothing to serious. But my left arm was cut open by a piece of steel; I gave a grimace seeing the blood flow. "Here, some Medi-gel." Scourge said as he threw the small box at me.

I unwrapped it and rubbed it onto my arm. The familiar stinging feeling came. I looked up to Scourge but he was already walking over to a steel beam. He removed it and pulled out Kenn from the rubble. His suit had scratches on it and the helmet a small crack but he was still breathing.

I then looked behind me to see many Tuirans from ship looking over the debris. Septimus walked up to me mandibles positioned in what I assumed was a grin. "Your tough for your race kid. Your little Turian daughter isn't talking to anyone, save for that Krogan."

I narrowed my eyes not believing what he said. "She's not my daughter, just a friend." I replied annoyed.

His mandibles widened, "Well associating with a Krogan isn't good for a kid. As her father I'm sure you'll talk some sense into her." A frown was etched on my face. I really hated this Turian who thought he was funny. "Anyways good to see you alive we need all the manpower." He patted my shoulder then looked over at Kenn, and walked over to the others.

I used my sword as a crutch and followed Scourge. The crash site looked horrible but I could see the engine behind me it was still intact oddly and sealed shut. Some sort of safety measure most likely to prevent eezo leaking out. There were large trees very tall rainforest like, but some leaves were different in colour such as, blue and purple. The bark looked very smooth on some trees and very rough on others. The ground was covered in some sort of grass and vines. I could hear unknown wildlife from the jungle.

Soon we started to move through it. The Turians were dragging several large boxes on a makeshift sled. We followed them careful not to trip over anything. But as luck would have it my feet caught a vine and I fell.

"Looks like the meatbag can't walk." One of the Turians sniggered. Ignoring their laughter I pushed myself up and wiped the dirt off my face.

"This 'meatbag' survived a head on crash with a planet." I retorted. The white Turian fell silent as the others laughed at him. I gave a small smile enjoying the feeling. We continued to walk forward for several minutes. Along the way some wild animals came too close for comfort and were shot. Their corpses were retrieved for food. The life on this planet was levo based. The food stores were dextro and levo. The Turians would have a hard time.

Scourge told me we were on a planet called Eingana. One of the worst planets to crash land on. An ancient warzone, two races fought over it the Inusannon and Thoi'han. Their ships eezo cores leaked onto the planet making the wildlife biotic. Thankfully we hadn't encountered a biotic animal. The thought made me incredibly nervous.

Then a hill came into sight it was over hundred meters tall and the peak looked flat. We climbed our way to the top. I was assisted by Scourge he used his free hand to pull me up. Thankfully there was a route up, the sides jutted out slightly creating narrow paths for us to walk on. Once at the top there were several makeshift tents surrounding a small rod. The emergency beacon most likely but the hologram read error. Very bad sign.

Scourge took Kenn over to the side and an Asari started to look over him. He then walked off to the side and laid down.

I looked around and saw Clé sitting at the edge of the cliff hugging her knees, looking towards the crash site. I walked up and sat down next to her. She didn't notice as she kept staring at the sight. "Yo," I finally said breaking her out of her daze. She looked at me her eyes wide. I gave her a weak smile. "Told you I'd come back."

"I know." She replied shocking me with her calm voice. "I knew you and Kenn would return." She then leaned into me. I winced as my ribs hurt, she noticed it and moved back muttering a quick sorry.

"Why are you so calm?" I asked curious. I expected her to be very distraught. She then glanced over at Septimus as he organized the food.

"Mr. Septimus told me to stop crying." She stiffly said. I narrowed my eyes, "Don't get angry at him. He helped me." She hastily added. Even if I did get angry at him I wouldn't be able to do anything, survival was priority inter group conflicts would be pointless and harmful. Besides he seemed to be a nice guy.

"Don't worry I won't get angry." I assured her.

"I wonder what you'd do to me if you were angry." I heard Septimus say from behind me. "Will you crash into me." He joked. I glared up at him. On second thought maybe not a nice guy. He just grinned down at me not the serious fighter he was on the frigate. Clé was calm in his presence and not nervous.

"At least I'd survive." I muttered and he laughed while Clé looked on confused.

* * *

**A/N: And things aren't going to well. Crashing on a planet not a good thing especially one like Eingana. It is a real planet so you can check it out on the mass effect wiki (Thank god it exists). So this is arc 2 getting off this planet, and there is more to it than meets the eye...**

**Have a great day!**


	11. Chapter 11, The Endurance

**A/N: This chapter took a long time. Culminatings are almost in full force and taking time. Worse I had an AP Bio exam on Monday, went well. That's why this chapter took some time to come out. The next one may take longer as exams will are only a month away. Barely had time to write this, hope you enjoy :]**

* * *

Chapter 11: The Endurance

I gave a grunt as I pulled the log across the ground. It was about four meters long and half a meter thick. Tough thing to lug around. Septimus had everyone working on something; he had become the de facto leader. I didn't mind he was very good at ordering us around. We already had a few small makeshift tents set up. We had to share though, Kenn, Scourge, and I shared ours. Although Scourge spent most of his time sleeping outside preferring to look at the stars.

I pulled the log to the desired place. In front of a Salarian who would start to cut it, he was using some fancy Omni-tool plasma. He'd cut it into thinner beams which were used a supports for the tents. There were some trees on top of the hill and all the tents were built around them.

Septimus didn't want anyone building one in the open. He said if unsavory parties came to 'rescue' us they would be able to see us easily, if we were in the open.

There was a major problem, the distress beacon wasn't working. As soon as Kenn became conscious Septimus had him on the beacon. He spent several hours on it but couldn't fix it. Saying it wasn't damaged; instead it couldn't broadcast its signal properly. It was being blocked by something. Nobody had any clue as to what it could be.

Septimus speculated it might be ancient jammers still active. But Scourge dismissed that claim saying not even Krogan technology could last a hundred thousand years. Krogan's built their stuff to last.

But that wasn't the end of our problems. The food stores were not in the best condition. Out of the eight retrieved only two had edible food. They were both levo so the Turians were forced to use their ration bars. Luckily all of them had some. But they would run out and they did some scouting and found that some of the wild life was in fact dextro.

So Septimus had organized a hunting party. All of us gathered around the beacon.

"Any help would be appreciated. As most of you know the fauna of this planet is extremely dangerous." He said calmly. "You don't have to come. But I will hold anyone who does come in favor." He finished placing his hands behind his back and stood with his chest puffed out.

"You can go and die for all I care bird." A human muttered and walked back to his tent. A few followed him. Septimus stayed silent and looked at a few others who muttered quick apologies and left.

"I-I'm just not cut out for combat." An Asari said. "I'm really sorry. Good luck." I shook my head at her. She was just a coward, all Asari were biotics. She would have been a good asset and I also wasn't cut out for combat.

"I'll go." Scourge simply said. "I'm interested in this biotic wildlife. They'll be a good test for this modification." He patted his rifle. I didn't notice anything odd about it, must have been something internal.

Kenn wasn't going as he spent his entire time trying to boost the signal strength of the beacon. Septimus then looked at me with expecting eyes.

"Khan, you survived a crash. Most don't, we need 'tough' people on this hunt." He said smirking. I shook my head in annoyance. This Turian would annoy me a lot; the sooner we were off this planet the better.

"I figured you'd rope me into this somehow." I muttered. "But I can't let a chicken like you hunt alone. You'd just run away." I said referring to him leaving the frigate without me. Scourge gave a small chuckle as Septimus' smirk dropped. Revenge felt sweet.

"I thought you were already in the escape pod. Cleary I over estimated your abilities." He said fiddling with his gun. The thing looked very dangerous now that I saw it up close. It was a jet black Vindicator, with blue lights on its side.

"Clearly I over estimated your situational awareness." I replied. It was obvious he was a more skilled person than I was. He gave a quick cough and started to walk. I gave a small smirk as I walked behind him. In total three Turians came with us including Septimus, with me and Scourge the total party size was six people.

I kept my pistol raised as we moved through the forest. Septimus took point, Scourge bringing up the rear. The dense foliage limited our vision, save for Septimus. He had some sort of head piece on him and didn't move his head around much letting his suit do most of the work. He was clearly not normal, maybe a mercenary or undercover military. His armour also didn't look standard issue; it reminded me of Nihlus' armour.

"Animal spotted. Distance one hundred." Septimus said raising his hand and everyone halted. "Small about a meter across four legs. Aetius take it out." The Turian who called me meat bag pulled off the sniper from his back. These Turians were officially crazy, who lugged around a sniper…

He aimed and with a deafening roar he fired. I winced as the sound hit my ears. He looked over at me amused as I held my ears.

"Target down. Good shot if I do say so myself." Aetius praised himself.

"It was only a hundred meters. Even Khan could make that shot." Septimus said confusing me. I didn't know whether to be happy he was criticising him or the fact he insulted me.

We moved ahead and found the animal with its head blown clean off. I gulped seeing the wound; shields really did absorb a lot of damage and I didn't have one. Septimus waved his Omni-tool over it and shook his head.

"It's levo based. We can't carry it with us, hopefully when we come back something hasn't eaten it." With that he picked it up and threw it up onto a branch. I looked at my arms and then at his. There wasn't much of a difference in thickness. But he somehow threw a dog sized creature onto a branch. I really wanted armour.

Moving on it continued like this. We spotted an animal and then Aetius would take it out. So far we hadn't discovered any dextro animal. We were two hours into the hunt and were headed back, each one of us carrying a levo animal.

"No biotic animals thankfully." I said.

"I wouldn't have minded any. Really wanted to test my upgrade." Scourge said.

"What did you change?" I asked curious.

"The particle shaver-" He stopped at my confused look. "The thing that cuts off the block inside to create grain sized bullets. I made it dig deeper making each bullet larger." He said enthusiastic.

"Doesn't that slow the speed of the round?" Septimus asked.

"Doesn't matter on this planet any animal will be up close. Larger rounds, larger the holes." I gave a nod agreeing with him. There was dangerous wild life on this planet. Luckily we hadn't met any.

"Makes sense but isn't that what a shotgun is for?"

"I don't have one Turian."

We walked on sweating profusely I took a sip of water from my canteen. My head was throbbing due to the heat. My Omni-tool said that the temperature was forty degrees. It wasn't this hot in my home land. Well only on rare days…

"Khan! We need to keep moving." Septimus urged. I looked up to see they were several meters ahead of me. I hadn't realized I was leaning against a tree resting. Quickly I got up but then the ground shook slightly and I lost my balance and fell.

I heard a massive footstep and looked around. Right behind me was a freak of a creature. It was as large as an elephant. The skin was covered in spikes and a light blue glow surrounded its body. It looked down at me baring its sharp fangs. I did what I thought was reasonable and instantly opened fire with my pistol. The round harmlessly bounced of the creature as a blue barrier flickered into place.

"Move!" I heard Septimus shout followed by a hail of gunfire. I quickly rolled out of the way as the animal lifted its front legs and slammed them down dust was instantly kicked up in the air. I quickly stood up but then heard a roar and out of the dust the animal ran towards me.

I reacted by rolling out of the way, but I wasn't fast enough. The spiked side grazed my legs drawing blood. I gave a wince as I landed on my side. I quickly pushed myself up. Luckily it was only a small cut nothing too serious. The animal crashed into a tree and tore it in half. It was disoriented so I quickly ran towards Septimus but then it swung its club like tail. I ducked under it and almost tripped, regaining my balance I ran up to Septimus and Scourge.

"What the hell is that thing!?" I shouted falling in line with them. They all had their guns trained on it and were firing. But they didn't seem to be doing much save for Septimus' gun. Even Scourge's modification was pointless it only made the gun louder.

"Don't know! Whatever it is we need to kill it!" Septimus replied waiting for his gun to cool down. "Spread out we need to flank it! Aetius on me, Khan go with Scourge and Zenix!" He ordered. I nodded and followed the two. They moved into the open and fired upon the animal. The beast gave a roar and pulled its head out of the tree. It was covered in blue wisps of biotic energy.

"Move!" Scourge shouted grabbing me by my collar and throwing me into the treeline. I landed on my back and looked up to see Scourge behind a tree and Aetius on the other side. Then I saw needles fly everywhere covered in biotic energy. They all landed where we were standing.

"I owe you one." I said to Scourge. He just nodded.

"That thing can fire projectiles…interesting." Scourge muttered to himself.

"It's growing its needles quickly." Aetius observed. "The thing must be an apex predator."

"That's our opening." I said and fired a few shots and lo and behold one shot hit the thing and it roared in pain. I then saw that the skin wasn't covered in any biotic energy only the needles…"The needles have the biotic field on them, when gone its skin is exposed." I supplied firing several shots thankfully half landed.

Aetius and Scourge were about to open fire but by then all the needles were back and it charged towards us wreathed in blue energy. I ran to the side carefully over the needles on the ground. But when I heard no one else I looked over my shoulder to see the two run in the opposite direction. I quickly hid behind a tree breathing heavily. My leg was bleeding as I was overexerting the damaged part.

I looked out of cover to see the beast raging in the forest and shouts which belonged to the two amidst the gunfire. The animal was terrifying; it could have killed me with one swipe of its tail. I took a step but found my feet unable to move. They were shaking in fear. I then looked at my hands which trembled as well.

I tried moving again but I couldn't. I was too scared to face that monster. I really wasn't the fighter I thought I had become…I was just a random kid trying to act… cool…

I heard more gunfire and saw Septimus and the other Turian hit it from behind. But their bullets had little use when they weren't able to fire. They were constantly dodging tail swipes. Septimus moved like a veteran on the battle field always with purpose and finality. Scourge moved with a ferocity one would expect of a Krogan, but at the same time he was calculating in his moves.

For some reason I gripped the bark of the tree and started to climb it wanting to get away. If I was high up it wouldn't be able to see me. I reached the top a minute later. It was tall about twenty meters high. I looked down from the branch I saw on at the fight.

I saw one Turian motionless the other limping. Scourge lured the beast in my general direction, but it wasn't tall enough to see me. Still I gripped the bark tight hoping it would just leave. It unleashed another needle barrage forcing all three into cover. But this time it didn't stop to regenerate it rammed forward right into Scourge. It lifted him up and smashed him into the tree.

He tried to push against it but wasn't able to even with his Krogan strength. His gun lay useless on the ground as he was pushed up against a large tree. The very tree I was standing on, it didn't budge this had to be the biggest one in the area.

Septimus fired into the creature's back but it wouldn't be fast enough Scourge would be crushed. I looked down seeing him struggling against it. If I didn't do anything he would die. I closed my eyes James' body flashing through my mind. I wouldn't let it happen again. I couldn't. Not if I could save someone.

"He'll die if I don't do anything…" I muttered standing up on the branch and unsheathing my sword. The animal still hadn't regenerated its needles. I then did what a sensible person would. I jumped of the branch blade poised for a stab and yelling.

"Yraaagh!" I shouted the animal didn't look up. Within seconds my blade stabbed into its neck going hilt deep. Keeping my grip on its hilt my downward momentum caused the blade to turn a full one eighty degrees cutting the animals neck open.

I fell to the ground with a massive thump its red blood spraying all over me. The animal still wasn't dead it let go of Scourge and started to flail around. I couldn't move my legs hurting too much; I knew I had broken at least one bone.

It moved back and blue ripples of energy covered its body. But before it could unleash its rage Septimus ran right in front of it and chucked a grenade into its wound. It blew up severing the creature's head for good.

I blinked rapidly not believing what had happened. Suddenly the pain hit my legs and I bit back a yell. It was a deep throbbing pain shooting through my left leg. It had taken the brunt of the impact. Septimus kneeled down by my leg and quickly applied medi-gel on the wound. The pain numbed instantly. I looked over to see Scourge getting up and shaking his head. Aetius went over to the other Turian.

"That was some crazy stunt you pulled there." Septimus commented as he helped me up and handed me my sword it was drenched in blood. I sheathed it and quickly leaned on it, looking at the dead animal. "You humans do the weirdest shit."

"At least I killed the freak." I replied feeling proud. I was still in a daze over what had happened. "It was a team effort."

"Well we'd better thanks Scourge for volunteering as bait." Septimus smirked returning to his old self. Scourge gave a groan as he picked up his gun frowning seeing it crushed.

"Thanks…Khan." He said patting my shoulder. It felt odd like he was actually impressed with me. I had saved his life two times. He walked over to the corpse examining the cut. It was smooth but that was a given, because of the speed of my fall. "That sword of yours has saved your life many times. It needs a name worthy of its worth."

"The blade may have a Spirit with in it." Septimus said; I gave him a confused look. "Turian religious belief, Spirits exist in areas or things that transcend the individual." He supplied and I nodded remembering it.

I looked down at my sword, it had been with me since my first kill. But I still felt it was too, young? It was hard to describe. I didn't feel as though it had seen enough battles.

"I think he's too young." I said to the two and both nodded in understanding.

"Makes sense but at least you know the gender of your Spirit Khan. Can't resist thinking about boys eh?"

I stayed quiet giving him a withering look. He was annoying.

We then examined the corpse and found it to be levo based. It was massive weighing nearly several tons. Scourge tried pulling it to no avail, so we then cut it open using knives and my katana. Getting several slabs of meat we put them on the small makeshift sleigh we had with us. The other Turian was fine. He was knocked out by the force of the impact and soon we moved back towards the camp site.

* * *

An hour of painful walking later we arrived back to camp. I was literally carried by Scourge. Once at the camp I was propped down onto the side and people started to gather around. I managed to hide my broken leg fairly well as I sat on a crate.

Kenn was still tinkering with the transmitter he gave me a wave when I arrived. Clé came up to me and sat beside me.

"How was the trip?" She asked glancing at my leg. I angled it away from her.

"It was great, got lots of food. Even some dextro."

"Are you hurt?"

"Nope, just a small scratch." I tried to assure her but her eyes held steady.

"Then why is there blood on your leg?" She pressed.

"A scra-"

"Why were you limping?" She cut me off. She was a smart little kid, parents raised her well.

"Smart guy jumped off a twenty meter tree." Aetius said organizing the food. Clé gave a gasp shocked. It would sound like a pretty stupid act to anyone…But I did save someone in doing it.

"I had to do it or Scourge would be paste." I explained. It still throbbed a lot but thankfully the medi-gel did numb the wound. Septimus said I needed a bone mender. It was a minor fracture so that alone would be able to fix it. Hopefully someone would have some.

"Does it hurt?" She looked at my leg intently. I gave a chuckle at her question.

"Of course it does, but it'll be fixed soon." I finished and looked over at the people gathering.

"The hunt was a success we bagged lots of levo animals and a few dextro ones." Septimus said gesturing to the pile of meat. "We'll be distributing the food in an orderly manner."

Then a human walked past Septimus and picked up a piece of meat and started to walk away. My eyes narrowed. But before he could walk away Septimus grabbed his shoulder.

"An orderly fashion." He repeated, his voice was cold. When the human didn't move he squeezed his shoulder. Judging by the wince his grip was tough.

"You don't need this food Turian it's levo" He stated.

"But others do. Now put it back." He hissed into his ear and he complied reluctantly. He gave my leg a look and smirked.

"I have a bone mender if you're interested." He floated the idea. I narrowed my eyes at him. We were supposed to be working together, yet this person wanted to manipulate the situation to his advantage. "I'd just like this entire piece of meat for myself." He said patting a slab we had cut.

Silence befell the camp as everyone looked at him. I looked at the slab it was pretty big, it could feed a lot of mouths.

"No tha-" I started but was cut off.

"Done." Septimus said walking up to the human and holding out his hand. The human placed a tube on it. Then Septimus nodded to Scourge who walked up behind the human and threw him away. Then Septimus picked up the piece of meat and threw it on him. He looked down disgusted as the human gave a groan. "I hate selfish people like you."

I had to agree with him, trying to take advantage of someone weak. I also hated people like that, especially if they tried to take advantage of me.

He then walked over to me and handed me the tube. "Just rub it into the wound be sure to rub it on the fracture." I gave a nod. I felt slightly sick that I'd be touching my bones…He saw my look, "We don't have any needles. "You'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

Then the human got up throwing away the meat. It was covered in dirt rendering it un-edible. He then pulled out a dagger and dashed towards Septimus' back. I was about to open my mouth but Septimus reacted fast. He spun around grabbing the stabbing hand. Then he grabbed the human's shoulder with his other hand and then used his spin to throw the human over me and into the ground. The dagger was still in his hand. Septimus walked up to the man and stomped on his wrist loosening his grip. He kicked the dagger away and placed his gun at his chin.

"You don't want to be my enemy human. You'll die young." He said crouching. I was in shock, that movement was extremely fast. Too fast for a normal soldier to do, he most likely had some sort of advanced training. Also, knowing he was getting attacked from behind without looking, honed battle instincts.

Septimus picked up the meat and threw it at the human again. "Do whatever you want with it. I'll kill ten more for every one you'll stuff in that fat mouth." With that he left and walked to the far side of the camp. The human picked up the meat and ran off to who knows where. No one bothered to stop him and went back to their own tasks.

"Tough guy." Scourge commented. "Well better fix my gun." He then left for his spot outside the tent.

"He's scary." Clé said looking towards where Septimus was sitting. "He was very funny when he talked to me."

"Sometimes you need to be scary." I replied looking at my wounded leg. "Why don't you go sit with Scourge I need to fix my leg." She gave a nod and hopped off the crate and bounded towards Scourge. She had become more upbeat since arriving in this open space.

I then pulled up my pants at the leg and barely kept my food in my stomach. It was bruising and there was a massive cut with medi-gel covering it. I applied the paste on my fingertips. It was white in colour. I then pushed at the wound. It didn't hurt because the gel was numbing the region but it felt very odd and creepy. I pushed my fingers into the wound and I could feel my muscle. Thankfully I found the fracture quick. It was sharp and jagged; I applied the gel and quickly pulled out. My fingers were covered in blood.

"You know there's an app for that?" I looked up to see Kenn gave him a long hard stare. "It'll be quicker and easier." To prove it he opened it up on his omni-tool and scanned my leg and there it was my broken bone. It looked bad broken in two almost.

"I don't think I have the program could you keep your tool there?" I asked to which he nodded. I then did the procedure again.

"Scourge said you jumped off a tree, like an idiot." He chuckled. It was good to see the open air easing him as well.

"Did he forget the part in which I saved his life?" I pulled out my finger and applied the paste again.

"No, I think he may have forgotten."

"Krogan are prideful, even a smart one like him." I said applying the paste to the other bone. "How's the beacon going?"

"It's working but there is some sort of jamming. I've tried to boost the signal strength but I don't have enough power. We'll have to locate the jammer, should be close by the interference is too strong. Or it just may be a very strong one." He rambled. "If that's the case it will be hard to get off the planet. Maybe if we could salvage some circuit boards from the ship?"

"It crashed hard." I deadpanned.

"No, the engine was intact mostly. There may be some consoles in it, which have microprocessors which I could use to boost the signal."

"Could you actually do it?" I asked skeptical. I didn't know much about Mass effect tech but still repurposing processors sounded hard.

"Please Khan, give me a chunk of scrap metal, a circuit board, and some element zero, and I'll have it making precision jumps." He said quoting Tali word for word. I looked up at him surprised. "What?" He asked confused at my look.

"Is that a Qurian saying?"

"Relatively new one, I'm surprised you know it."

"Saw it on the Extranet." I quickly said, he gave me a look not believing. "4 chan." I said as if that was the answer to everything. He stared at me and I at him, he then gave a slow nod."

"That human site's very popular it has lots of 'info' on it." He said and we started to talk about the weirdness of the extranet. Thankfully it was very similar to the internet if not the exact same in concept.

After a while his omni-tool beeped. "That's enough of the gel."

I gave a grateful nod, "Thanks, time sure flew by." The sun was setting and it looked very nice regardless of the terrifying animals that inhabited this planet. The sun looked orange but the sky looked exotic, very purple in colour. The planet's one moon was also visible. A few birdlike animals flew towards the sunset, it looked surreal. I smiled enjoying the sight; I wanted to remember it so I took a picture.

"At least we crash landed on a beautiful world. Is Earth like this?" Kenn asked.

"Better, it has; vast blue oceans, towering mountains, endless fields of green, ancient forests, bustling cities, snow as far as the eye can see and…home." I said feeling a knot in my throat as I thought of my home.

"My parents said Rannoch was a large plain of sand and beautiful valleys near the water. It's mostly arid; I've heard Earth has some pretty wild weather?" No wonder he was curious. The Quarians didn't have a home world, at least until Mass Effect 3.

"It does, Storms of lightning, water or snow." I said feeling prideful. It was weird that I did, I felt pride about having a more destructive planet.

"Sounds like an interesting place."

"I'll take you there some day." I promised to myself.

"I'd like that."

* * *

**A/N: Wildlife on this planet is dangerous...Thankfully due to modern medicine Khan will heal quickly. This chapter was just setting up the planet more and the plot will pick up next chapter. The group is starting to fracture as shown by random human#1 This will lead to trouble. **


	12. Chapter 12, The Examination

**A/N: Finally a new chapter! Exams were over and got my report card (was awesome!). The year was tough as I had to get into my first choice university. So I figured I'd take a break before getting back to work. **

**Sorry for the delay but now I will be back to my normal schedule one chapter a week. Heck maybe even two chapters a week although that isn't a promise I will try.**

**Any how enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Examination

I sat still by the edge of the cliff watching as another hunting party went out. Most of the food was contaminated with element zero, meaning only the Asari could actually eat it. The rest of us were out of luck and didn't sleep on full stomachs. Septimus left with the same team minus me. My leg was still not in great condition, but I could walk around with a makeshift crutch. A branch I smoothed into a pole with a knife.

I felt odd watching them go out to face danger while I stayed here…When I thought about it, ever since I arrived here, I've always been in life and death situations…I didn't know if it was a good thing becoming desensitized so quickly.

Sighing I pushed myself using my crutch as support. I turned around and limped towards the camp along the way Clé saw me and quickly came up to me looking angry?

"What's wrong?" I asked continuing to walk.

"You shouldn't be moving." She ground out folding her arms glaring at me, "Your leg still needs to heal." I gave her a small smile touched by her concern; she had become bossy since I got my injury. Also it was a contrast with her demeanour as a slave, maybe putting up a false front?

"It's fine as lon-"

"It's not fine, you need to rest" She cut me off and forced me to sit down on a nearby boulder. "Just stay here I'll bring you some water." She scurried off and I gave an annoyed sigh as she went out of sight. She was a nice kid but other times she was annoying as well. Once she was out of sight I stood up again and resumed my walk.

"You should listen to her you know." I heard Kenn say as he walked over from the beacon, "You need to be in good shape if you want to get off this planet."

"A little walk shouldn't be an issue." I replied getting annoyed as I walked past him.

"Just don't push yourself too hard." He said walking back over to the beacon. I stayed still mulling over his concern; maybe I was pushing myself too hard…I quickly found a place to sit down and closed my eyes letting myself rest.

* * *

I woke up in the night to the sound of footsteps and some rocks falling; quietly I got up into a sitting position and looked around. There seemed to be no one moving around save for two people on watch, but they were far away. A chilly breeze swept through the area and I shivered slightly, at night this planet could get cold.

I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't so I decided to move my injured leg and it didn't hurt as much. I clearly wouldn't be running but still an improvement. I stood up with my crutch and walked away from the fire around which everyone was sleeping.

I went over to where I heard the steps, I found myself overlooking the cliffside into the forest. It was confusing as to why there was noise in this direction; judging by the cliff there was no point in walking here but to enjoy the view.

Then I heard the trees rustle my head snapped towards them and I stared intently at the forest below me. But I dismissed it as the wind making the branches rustle. The night was odd on this planet I thought to myself as I looked up at the sky. The colour of the sky was black with a tinge of green to it; that with an orange moon made for a unique sky.

"Up early aren't you?" Hearing another set of footsteps I turned around to see Septimus coming and standing next to me. He also gazed at the woods for a moment, "How's the leg?"

"A day or two it'll be fine."

"That's good, but why up so early?" As he said this I was confused as to tell him of the footsteps or not. Would he even believe me and were they even an issue... "If it's something 'private' no need to tell me."

"No I just heard some footsteps and a few rocks breaking form this direction." I informed him.

"Are you sure?" He asked eyes hardening as he looked over the cliff, "We may have a deserter."

"Does it really matter though?"

"You are right about that he or she will end up dead quickly." He said sitting down, "Still the idea of deserters unnerves me."

"Former military?"

"Sharp mind, guess yours actually works." He smirked to my ire, "You pulling that stunt had me doubting your sanity."

"Were you always such an ass?"

"You know it." He chuckled and stood up giving me a rough pat on my shoulder, "Get some sleep try not to dwell on the sounds." He walked over to his place leaving me to myself. I found it hard to accept his advice it felt confusing to ignore a person who may just die due to their own foolishness. But I couldn't really do much in this state.

Sighing I went back to my 'bed' making sure to be quiet as I laid down. Scourge was a few feet away and muttered something incomprehensible and turned over away from the fire. Kenn slept to my right and Clé to my left, both were a few feet away from me.

Closing my eyes I managed to fall asleep thinking of those noises.

* * *

"Hey bird face pass me some meat will you!" A human yelled at Aetius who snorted.

"Get it yourself you pyjak!"

"Why you!" The human stood up and glowered at Aetius, who calmly stared right back. Joseph the human then sat back down, "Where the hell is Sam anyways" he muttered. The very person who Septimus had taught a lesson, he was nowhere to be seen when we woke up. I had slight inkling as to where he may have gone.

"Guess the little pyjak couldn't handle this life" Aetius laughed and I actually felt angry. I may have sided with the Turians on multiple issues but there was no reason to the insult. This would only escalate the conflict.

"What did-"

"Aetius stop." I said cutting Joseph off and glaring at Aetius, "No need to inflame our group dynamics even more. We need to survive." I stressed the last part.

"Why should I listen to you?" He mocked looking down at me. I really did feel short compared to a Turian, at 5'10 I was almost a foot shorter.

"Because he talks sense." Septimus said walking up to Aetius and patting his shoulder, "Get up we need to go get some food."

"Fine, fine…" He muttered and left. Joseph looked at me his gaze appeared thankful.

"Thanks" he said and also left to who knows where. I really didn't care much about the others except for my group of friends. Might have been because; everybody in this world was an asshole only thanking you when it would suit their needs.

* * *

The next few days were far from pleasant; the situation was turning worse by each day. Several fights had broken out mostly between humans and Turians. In one fight a poor Salarian was punched hard in the head.

The Turians were the most ordered even though they had it the worst. Still they took everything in stride and maintained discipline. They were an ordered socially focused race contrasting with humanities' chaotic individualism. Guess both races had their pros and cons.

One day I noticed Aetius missing, everyone noticed him gone. Finding him nowhere even after asking people around the camp I grew concerned. He hadn't gone hunting with Septimus and he wasn't on the camp. He was clearly somewhere off the camp in the dangerous wild.

Oddly the others weren't really concerned passing it off as him being in the hunting party. Another odd thing was that more humans had also gone missing over the course of time. My curiosity taking full hold I decided to investigate myself seeing no one else was concerned.

I was able to walk just fine though a full sustained sprint was out of the question. Getting my weapons I went over to the cliff where I had heard the noises a few days ago. Making sure no one saw me I carefully made my way down. It wasn't very tall, only about twenty meters.

Arriving at the forest floor I walked into the woods mindful of the odd looking plants. It was surprising that I had been able to make it down without much of an issue. My body must have strengthened due to Talab…Being with that Batarian a blessing or a curse?

I looked back up to make sure no one was looking down and then quietly proceeded further in the woods. Looking around I tried to see any signs of movement. I wasn't a ranger by any means but at the very least I could try.

I soon noticed some trampled bushes and crushed plants. Taking a closer look at the plants and dirt there was a foot print. It looked like a boot; quickly I moved forward getting tense. Now I knew what I had heard that day was not an illusion but real.

I pulled out my pistol and kept it aimed forward, as I crouched and 'sneaked' my way through the woods. Then my eyes caught a flash of purple in the sunlight on a tree. Moving in to examine, it appeared to be a purple liquid. No, it was blue and red mixed together.

Suddenly I realized that it was Turian and human blood splattered onto the tree. Looking nearby I could see specs of red and blue decorating the bushes. Following the faint trail I was soon assaulted by a horrible smell.

Covering my nose I followed it and came across a horrible sight. A dead human body one of the deserters. Insects were moving in and out of the body and it took all of my effort to not throw up on the spot. I looked the body over a female and she had her throat slit…and eyes gouged out.

I didn't know what had happened. Aetius disappearing blue blood a dead human…The only logical conclusion to me was that they tried to kidnap him and he fought back. He wasn't the type to just let something like that happen. But why kidnap him if he helped them get food?

I was about to move on when I noticed she had a small satchel. I felt horrible for doing this but I had learned the hard way that one has to do anything to survive. I carefully took it off her; thankfully there were no insects on it. Just to be sure I gave it a shake and opened it up finding a data pad inside. I planned on looking at it later as I still had this mystery to solve.

I continued to move ahead and the blood became more noticeable as I walked. I did start feeling uneasy growing concerned for Aetius. He may have been an ass but still a productive member of our group.

The same smell filled the air a few minutes of walking later. This time I quickly moved ahead and to my 'relief' found a human corpse again. This one a male the head was at a completely unnatural angle. This one was easier to stomach then before and I didn't know if that was a good thing.

There was more blue blood here and claw marks over the ground. It looked as though a scuffle had broken out between Aetius and his captors. There was nothing on this guy's body, when I was about to walk forward I heard a twig snap.

Reacting instantly I whipped around and had my gun aimed at the intruder. When I saw it I let out a sigh of relief. It was just a small rodent like creature with large unnatural black eyes. It stared at me for a moment and then quickly came over to the dead corpse sniffing it a few times and then left.

I only raised an eyebrow at the creature's peculiar behaviour. But I still had more pressing matters to attend to. I examined the scene further and saw a series of trampled bushes. On the ground the dirt was pushed to the side with a trail of blue blood, implying Aetius was being dragged, or was bleeding out.

Walking between the trees and following the blood trail I grew tense with each step. I knew I was getting closer to the end of this mystery. My mind knew that the answer would not be good but I still held onto naïve optimism for some reason.

Soon the most horrible smell assaulted my nose. Magnitudes worse than the rotting corpses, reminded me of my animal dissections back in high school. Up ahead I could see a small clearing, I quickly moved through the woods. Ducking under branches and just trampling over bushes with no regard for the amount of noise I was making. I was making a lot judging by the many birdlike creatures fleeing the tree tops.

My heart started to beat faster as I got closer. Entering the clearing it froze as a horrible chill settled in my chest. The site before me was the most disgusting thing I had seen. I couldn't hold it and fell on my knees and hands as I threw up my meager amount of food.

I couldn't even smell my own vomit as the stench was so overpowering. Looking up I quickly looked back down finding my regurgitated food more pleasing to the eyes.

My mind was in denial not wanting to believe what lay a few meters away from me at the base of a tree. Finally I did look at its base and found a mass of organs in a pile drenched in blue blood. They were propped up as some sort of sick offering to the thing nailed onto the tree.

Tears gathered in my eyes as I realized up on the tree was; the hollowed out exoskeleton of Aetius. The Turian who insulted me at every opportunity, the 'smart ass' of the group was brutally murdered. Thinking about my last conversation with him it wasn't a pleasant one.

I shakily stood up and walked forward but stopped just shy of the mess. I didn't look at the organs my eyes instead on the exoskeleton. Even now blood was dripping from it and I didn't even want to think how they had done such an act. His eyes were still there looking oddly calm as if accepting his death.

If he had accepted his death would I have done the same? Did the circumstances allow me to mourn his loss or just move on quickly? Confused I managed to stand up and turn around wiping my lips of the vomit.

I knew I had to move on, it felt impersonal but this was the only way I could survive in this universe. I looked back and promised myself that I would properly mourn him when the time was right. At the moment I had to survive and avenge his death, that's what he would have wanted himself. I gripped my amulet tightly and took several deep breaths. At first shuddering but eventually calmer ones and slowly regaining control over myself.

I moved as quickly as possible back to base camp. It took me around twenty minutes to come back. I walked around the camp and entered from the front. The guards looked at me confused.

"Is Septimus here?" I asked my voice slightly hollow.

"He is just arrived a few minutes ago." He supplied and I nodded moving past him towards the camp. My eyes landed on Septimus as he distributed the food. I walked right up to him ignoring Kenn calling me.

"Septimus we need to talk now." I said grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him slightly to face me. He looked at me confused but seeing my disheveled appearance his face turned serious.

"Everyone go back and don't disturb us." He ordered loud and clear. We walked over to the side near the very cliff from where I had scaled down. "What's that matter you look like hell?"

"A-Aetius is dead." I said being up front and hiding nothing. His face morphed to shock and before he could speak I continued, "I-I scaled down this cliff and found blood trails. There were two human corpses, the deserters which I think Aetius had killed. Moving further in a clearing was his body…" I finished looking down at the ground my eyes misting up again.

"When did you see this?" He asked eyes looking down at the woods.

"Twenty minutes ago."

"Can you take me there?"

"Of course." I replied wanting to be of any help in pinning down his perpetrators, "Also I took this satchel of one of the corpses." I pulled out the data pad and his eyes narrowed in interest.

"Keep it with you, we need to get to the scene first." He looked over at the camp, "Hunting team! Follow me we're going out again!" He yelled walking towards the exit and the other guys quickly following hearing the anger in his voice.

Clé looked at me and was about to come over when Kenn stopped her. I gave him a grateful nod and followed the team.

I lead them through the woods and coming across the first corpse Septimus deduced what I had.

"Throat slit, Aetius used his claws to take out her eyes." He commented crouching over the body examining the cut. He pushed the corpse over finding many ant like insects on the bottom. He stood up and we continued on in silence.

At the second corpse he again looked it over silently while we stood off to the side.

"The Turian died?" Scourge asked me and I nodded, "Too bad he was a good fighter." I could only nod again.

"Neck snap and judging by these marks I assume he was dragged there." He said this time leading the way himself. The four of us moved forward following the same route and then he suddenly stopped pulling something out of the ground…A knife.

"You didn't notice this Khan." He said holding it up and I recognized it, "It's Aetius' knife."

"I-I was rushing through here towards the clearing." I muttered and he just gave a grunt and we continued. Soon the stench assaulted us and when he arrived at the clearing I looked away. Gasps of shock could be heard from our small group.

"By the spirits…" the other Turian muttered.

"The Krogan rebellions all over again…" Scourge muttered shocking me. To think that war could have been so brutal and the Turians won, no wonder they were prideful. "Not a surprise to see such a barbaric act done in these circumstances."

"This is what civilization safeguards us against." I said managing the courage to look up. Septimus was deathly quiet as he walked up to the hung up corpse. He looked up at it and his fist clenched and shook slightly.

"And those deserters willingly rejected it." Scourge said and I looked at his face to see it very serious, "They should be treated as barbarians." As he said this I was reminded of The Social Contract. They broke it and hence were not under its protection anymore. We could deal with them in any way we saw fit because they broke the common rule of law.

"To do this to him, one who brought them food, it's unforgivable." The other Turian muttered, "I will avenge his death."

"Agreed." I added looking at him resolute, "They will pay."

"Odd for me a Krogan avenging a Turian…but it is better than letting this be forgotten. They'll get a taste of my new upgrade." Scourge said punching his other hand.

"I may have hated him for always insulting me. But I can respect his dedication to the group even putting his life on the line for us humans. It's sad that only with hid death I've realized what type of person he was. The true measure of a warrior is not how he lives… but how he dies." I said remembering the line from an old series back from home.

"Exactly like Khan said." Scourge spoke.

"Indeed." The other Turian added, "Well he didn't insult me at all." He said chuckling a bit easing the atmosphere. We then looked at Septimus who had pulled down the body and placed it on the ground; he took off a small bracelet from his hands and lit the body on fire.

"A model Turian until the end, he may not have liked the others in the camp. But even then he risked his life out in the wilderness to hunt." Spetimus spoke, "He died taking two enemy combatants with him. Even in his death he has aided us, revealing the true intentions of the deserters. Rest in peace Aetius I swear to your spirit and to the honour of my position to avenge your death!" He finished punching his own chest with his hands. The flames took him high up into the sky.

"They say the smoke of the fire will guide his spirit back home." The Turian said also looking at the setting sun which created that odd coloured sky again.

* * *

We left the scene soon after each one of us lost in our own thoughts. I believed we had given him a fitting farewell and I felt more at ease. It did hurt but the pain subsided as I watched the flames back in the clearing.

When we would come back the first order of business would be to locate the deserter camp. From there we would attack them. I pulled out the data pad it would assist us in discerning their location.

Arriving back at camp we found it to be in chaos. The tents were all torn apart, the food mostly on fire and several corpses littering the area.

"Spetimus! You're back!" The Salarian shouted running towards us Zorin was his name.

"What happened here?" He demanded.

"When you guys left a few minutes after we were attacked by the people who deserted! They came out of nowhere!" He exclaimed gesturing around the place. His eyes were frantic even for a Salarian and his face had a lot of dirt on it.

"Casualties?"

"Thankfully none, although they did kidnap three people. The little Turian, the Asari and a Human." My eyes widened realizing Clé had been taken.

"Where!?" I shouted fearing the worst. I walked right up to him, "Where did they go?" I asked quitter this time after Septimus' pointed look.

"I-I don't know but we did manage capture one of the attackers." He said and led us to the only tent left. A Turian went in and pulled out a human tied up. He had shaved his head and his mouth was gagged. His eyes looked around wildly and when they landed on me he went ballistic. Wriggling like crazy the Turian restrained him and the one with us. Septimus pulled out the cloth.

"The False prophet! You dare sully the soil of our Lord!" He yelled looking at me confusing me as well as everyone else greatly. "But I will not give in to your whispers, demo-!" Septimus punched him in the face stopping his rant.

"Why did you attack us?"

"Isn't it obvious! To rid the world of heretics!" He said as though it made all the sense in the world, "Our lord wants you gone and so you will be!"

"Where is your base?"

"Why shall I reveal the location of our chapel!?" He retorted keeping his eyes locked with mines the entire time. There was great malice in them which unnerved me greatly, oddly they also looked afraid.

Septimus threatened him with his weapons and even drew blood but nothing worked. He kept spewing nonsense. He had clearly gone mad beyond any hope of rescue. While Septimus interrogated him I sat down by Kenn.

"I wasn't strong enough to protect her." He stated looking down sad, "They just punched me away and took her."

"Not your fault we'll get her, all of them back." I tried to reassure him, "Those guys are fanatics and I won't let them do what they did to Aetius to Clé."

"Scourge told me, guess we have no choice but to save them." He said sounding more resolute. He stood up and moved his shoulders, "Thanks for the talk I needed it."

"I did nothing it was only you." I said walking away back over to the interrogation. They still hadn't succeeded. Septimus sat away looking over the data pad. I walked over to the guy and he straightened.

"W-What do you want demon!?" He yelled I stayed silent walking up to him and kneeling down. "I-I'm not afraid of you!" He proclaimed proving my idea.

"But you are." I replied noticing his eyes were focused entirely on my, amulet. That was interesting and disturbing; the amulet was associated with my arrival in this world. I lifted my hand and pulled out my sword. His eyes widened as I pulled it out and placed it on his neck.

"Where is your base?" I hissed into his ear. I was willing to go any length to save Clé from the same fate as Aetius.

"D-Don't tou-" He fell silent as I pressed my blade down drawing blood. As soon as my fingers made contact with him I swore I heard a sizzle. He screamed in pain forcing me to pull back or I would have accidentally cut him. "Don't touch me; please don't touch me I'll tell you!" He cried as Septimus walked over looking impressed.

"Don't know what you did but it worked."

He told us it was over 10 km northwest of here in a forest clearing. Septimus sent a two man scouting team. We waited and extracted more info on the layout; most of the guard was facing our base's direction. The rear was empty save for their lord's statue.

The scouts returned two hours later and confirmed the location and layout of the base. As they did Septimus blew the prisoner's brains out. I oddly didn't care and all ten of us gathered in the centre.

"He was beyond any hope." He explained.

"So how do we assault them?" I asked folding my arms.

"Simple, I'll lead a seven man team up front to take the heat and distract them. A smaller three man squad will come in from behind by their lord's monument."

"Who's in the three man team?" Kenn asked.

"You, Khan, and Zorin, all three of you are light on your feet and have quiet weapons compared to ours." He said to Kenn, "You three will follow the waypoints our scout marked to get you to the rear. From there locate and rescue the hostages and then hit them from behind." He explained opening his Omni-tool and displaying a 3-d holo of the base that the scouts had constructed. It wasn't very detailed; the back wasn't much at all save for a pillar like structure. But it was more than enough.

"When do we move out?" Scourge asked tinkering with his gun again.

"30 minutes, eat up and get ready to leave. We'll avenge Aetius and save our comrades."

* * *

**A/N: And everything is picking up! A rescue operation against a fanatical cult. I want to wrap up this arc soon so expect the next chapter and the one after that to be very hectic.**

**Also I've noticed in some stories people do mini encyclopedia like entries at the end. I'm interested in doing something like the Cerberus daily news in ME2. These will be centered around the politics of the galaxy and won't be that long about 200-300 words. If the idea appeals to even one person I'll add them in at the end putting them in a unique page break to inform the reader. **

**Thanks for all the reviews and I wish you all a great day! :]**


	13. Chapter 13, The Rescue

**I'm really sorry for the late chapter! I was running about getting university stuff done (Partially lazy...). I have chapter 14 almost done so expect it by Monday a promise! **

**I've noticed another fanfic on the site called 'Lost Effect' its very good and has eclipsed mine in reviews! The premise is similar to mine and I wanted to know what you guys think I'm doing wrong. Personally I feel it's my update rate. Any how give me your thoughts in the reviews.**

**Thanks for the reviews! E****njoy the chapter! :]**

* * *

Chapter 13: The Rescue

Me, Kenn and Zorin moved down the hill following our omni-tools direction. They had been mapped to way points set by the scouts, so it was just a matter of following the arrow. Once we got there the real mission would start.

Septimus had also looked into the data pad I had retrieved it was pointless only talking about their 'lord'.

I was nervous about it but not as much as before. The ship boarding and the hunting mission must've conditioned me as well as the desire to avenge Aetius and save Clé. The others most likely wouldn't have any sort of military grade weapons. At best if my memory was correct only two had a pistol.

But Septimus did say that they would be extremely savage in their attacks. We were to never let them gang up on one person. Use our range to advantage and it would be an easy mission to finish.

"How far until we arrive?" Zorin asked a few steps behind me. Guy didn't have an omni-tool, apparently only colonists had one or soldiers. They were kind of like smart phones, they weren't odd to have but were uncommon in a poor place like Omega. He just had a very basic tool called an S-tool, the 's' meaning 'standard.'

"4 km straight, then angle 20 degrees of north and move another 2 km then go straight north 1 km." Kenn replied bringing up a 2-d map in an instant. I still hadn't figured out how to do that, it involved some sort of very quick twitches, "It'll take us about an hour to arrive if we continue at this pace."

"That much…" Zorin muttered looking down, "I've never walked that much in my life." He complained.

"Lives hang in the balance, so we need to maintain our pace." I told him my voice serious; he looked up at me slightly sheepish. But then I remembered my first long distance walk. First day of fitness class my teacher made my class do as many laps of the school as possible, "Don't worry I think planets the gravity is ten percent less than Earth." Zorin looked at me confused.

"About thirteen percent less than the galactic standard." Kenn supplied erasing Zorin's look as understanding appeared on his face.

"Ah makes sense. Sur'kesh would be five percent stronger, meaning I am working with a five percent stamina buff." He exclaimed now excited as he stepped over a bush.

"You play games?" I asked curious, back in my time I was an avid gamer. I never really got the chance to look up how much gaming had progressed over almost two centuries.

"Indeed, Galaxy of Fantasy! I play as a Turian Higharch." I just gave him a confused look, "Basically the DPS character you do know what that means?" He questioned face serious. I oddly gave a laugh at seeing someone so serious over gaming terminology.

"I do." I replied relieved and comforted to know that everything hadn't changed since my time.

"Which games do you play?" He asked me and I stayed silent, Kenn noticed and spoke up.

"Him and I haven't had a chance to really play any. But I usually play Kepesh-Yakshi an RTS." Kenn said steering the conversation away from me. He usually did notice subtle changes in people's demeanours. The two talked about the game as we continued through the woods.

Zorin was an odd one, he wanted to save the Asari but he was also lazy. He slightly reminded me of myself in grade nine. I wanted to get the best grades without studying.

It was very hot about thirty five degrees Celsius. Combine that with a nearly jungle like forest the humidity was pretty high. I was sweating lightly and I couldn't tell between the other two, Kenn for obvious reasons. I didn't even know if Salarians perspired, if I remembered correctly from Bio class reptiles didn't sweat. Couldn't really remember why it was so, possibly something with their skins being waterproof.

Hearing leaves crunch we looked over to see a random animal just walking through the area. Ignoring it we continued on and soon were at our first way point.

We couldn't contact the other party which was an issue. Only extreme near field communications worked as in ten meters away, destroying the point. But in order to rectify it we had decided on very specific times in which we were to arrive at our assigned locations.

Looking at the time we were actually a minute early which was good. But Septimus stressed that arriving too early was also bad. In a military operation arriving precisely on time was ideal.

"My legs are aching" Zorin complained pressing his hand against them and sitting down. I looked around the place once to make sure we were clear, "We're a minute early why not rest?"

"We're more than half way there." I replied, "We shouldn't waste this minute we may need it up ahead." I pulled him up for the first time touching a Salarian hand. Felt similar to the skin of a frog but drier.

"We should move I bet Septimus is moving at a much faster pace than us." Kenn said as we resumed our 'march'.

"He does seem to be in the military; those types of weapons aren't on the market." Zorin commented.

"Especially the armour, I have seen it before." I replied and the two gave me odd looks. Realizing what I had said I covered up my mistake, "Something similar to it in a movie." It looked like Nihlus' Colossus armour, most likely it was or some variant.

"No your right, I've seen his armour in Kassa fabrication monthly. The name escapes me at the moment" I gave a relieved internal sigh, "Do you think he is in special forces? Black watch?" Zorin asked.

"Most likely he did move very fast, and when on that ship all of his shots landed." I replied.

"What was he doing on Omega?"

"Probably gathering intelligence." Kenn shrugged, "Omega is known for shady deals; no doubt spec ops would be involved in them, especially the Hierarchy." As he said this we lapsed into a tranquil silence, only the sounds of the local wild life and our footsteps providing company to our ears.

As we approached our second waypoint I felt a slight pain in the head. It was subtle but present, it was a sharp pain. I looked over at the other two and saw them narrowing their eyes.

"Got a headache?" I asked and both nodded. As we arrived at the point we checked the time and we were a minute early. But before we walked forward for me the pain increased and I fell on my knees and held my forehead.

"You alright?" Kenn asked placing a hand on my shoulder.

"My head hurts…" I muttered looking up and seeing my vision blur.

"Odd mine stopped a few seconds ago." Kenn said looking at Zorin.

"Same here."

For some reason I grabbed my amulet tight. The cool metal calmed me down I stood up and as the amulet rested on my chest oddly cold in contrast to my warm body. Then I felt a cool feeling go through my body. A gentle breeze went through the area and with it the headache was also gone.

"I'm fine let's go." I assured them and we continued onward. I was sure my amulet stopped my headache and what could cause a headache so suddenly to three people at once? The thought occupied my mind until we reached our last way point directly behind the camp.

Crouching we hid behind the trees and looked out at it. It was very badly made but it seemed as though they had used some of the steel form the crashed ship.

"I can see them at the other end." Kenn said surprising me, Quarian must have had good vision, "Gathered up front don't know what they're doing. Can't make out much my lenses aren't that good." Or he was using his tech as would every one.

In front of us it was mostly empty save for an odd structure about twenty meters away from us. We couldn't make its shape out only seeing its black colour. It was surrounded by steel beams and propped up on some sort of pedestal.

"Guess that's their 'lord'." I muttered and looked back at the two, "Ready to do this?" Kenn gave a firm nod, Zorin gave a weaker one.

"Of course my first fire fight…hopefully it's like Medal of Company 8." He said aiming his gun, "If all goes well, you won't have to use your sword." He added and I nodded, if that were the case we would have let the enemy get too close. Not an ideal situation.

"Let's do this." I said and we moved forward, I took point Kenn and Zorin flanking me one step behind. But as we approached their object of worship I started to feel queasy. Finally I could make it out clearly, a small black grey cylindrical object with two stripes of blue lights running down it. It was a metre tall and half a metre wide .The top was oddly rounded in an almost organic way…

"Get back!" I hissed and pushed both of them back my mind full of panic as I recognized the object. Both fell down onto the ground due to my sudden push, as I aimed my gun at it. Then it happened both were in mid fall when everything around me grey scaled. It seemed as though everything had frozen and it was only me thinking and that thing.

'_**Bend to us. Bend to those who seek your salvation.' **_It was an ancient voice but felt broken, almost as if old age had caught up, _**'You shall achieve perfection. Bend to our will.' **_It continued on seemingly ignorant of my awareness. As this happened a red black energy was radiating from the object. I could also see oily shadows in my peripheral vision.

I guessed this was the indoctrination process, what was normally subconscious was suddenly conscious to me.

'W-why are you here, reaper.' I didn't move my lips only thinking the thought.

'_**You are aware. You are an anomaly that should be purged.' **_It said in the same voice but a hint of anger in it, _**'Your ignorance of my nature gives reason for us to act.' **_

'What are you then?! Why are you on this planet!'

'_**I am merely a construct. Designed to bend your will, I have hibernated on this planet waiting for life forms of this cycle to locate me. This conversation is over. You shall be purged.' **_Suddenly the red wisps wrapped around me and I felt my mind feeling weakened almost as if forgetting everything. It felt as though it would be so easy to close my eyes and just let all this pain go. It made sense for us to bend to the Reapers; synthetics would be our downfall…

Then I saw it, a bright light from my chest, more specifically my necklace. As it grew in brightness the red aura vanished. Those thoughts vanished and I regained control of my mind. I was assaulted with images of my friends in this universe, Kenn, Clé, Scourge, Septimus even Zorin.

Then I saw Aetius looking down at me from a place very high up. I was standing on a cloud surrounded by a blue sky. Folding his arms his face was one of disapproval and disappointment. His mandibles moved but no word came out. I still understood what he seemed to be saying.

'Use your gift Khan, don't bow to these constructs. If you die I sure as hell won't let you rest in peace.' His thought finished and he smirked down at me. I felt the fear leave my body as I smiled up at him. In a flash he was gone.

'_**Impossible. They were to only watch. Intervention is against the prime directive. Cannot rationalize. Must purge anomaly in the matrix, informing Nazara priority SSS Alpha Plus.' **_The artifact or Reaper said in something akin to panic.

Everything was back to normal as I fell forward on my hands. I could hear gunfire at the front of the camp. Still disoriented I looked up at the Reaper artifact and knew what to do. The other two were still getting up confused.

I stood up and walked towards the artifact. As I did so I could hear screaming from the front and the gunfire getting louder. I still had Clé to save and avenge Aetius, I didn't know what I had seen but it had helped me strengthen my resolve.

"Mind crush you freak!" I yelled slamming my hands to its side.

My mind went blank as I saw nothing but red and black. A massive battle flashed before my eyes above this planet. I couldn't make any sense of it all I could slightly make sense of Reapers attacking an alien fleet. They were shredding it to pieces and hearing the dying screams of thousands sent a chill up my spine.

'_**The cycle is nearing completion. We are their salvation through their destruction.' **_This voice was terrifying beyond all measure. The worst part I knew whom it belonged to but my mind wanted to deny it. _**'Prepare them for ascension. The Inusannon will reach the final plane of existence.' **_Then I saw it thousands of shadows on the ground the bodies in horrible positions and screaming in agony.

I couldn't make out the shadow's shapes as my mind was focused too much on that voice. The one voice that would make itself known to the galaxy in about four years' time; Harbinger the vanguard of the Reaper assault.

Suddenly another flash filled my vision and I was back on the planet in front of the object. I heard a snap and then looking down the artifact had a large crack running through it. Then the blue lines vanished leaving only a chunk of useless metal. Throughout this I could see my amulet glowing pure white, it eventually dimmed down to the cold silvery blue metal it was.

I felt disoriented as I shook my head. Looking back the other two were up glancing at me. They were also blinking rapidly.

"W-what happened?" Zorin muttered voice shaken glancing at Kenn.

"Don't know my head hurts a lot." Kenn said gripping his head with his free hand, "One second you push me down my head hurts a lot and now I'm up."

"Me neither." I lied and thankfully they didn't catch it. Must've been the mind screw the artifact gave us, "All I know is this thing was screwing with our heads. So I broke it" I gave them the white lie, both nodded and looked at the entrance at the sound of heavy gunfire.

"Sounds like the strike team is here." Kenn said and we resumed our mission. We stayed away from the fight as we examined the area behind them. It was easy to do so as everything was left out in the open, they had no tents. They seemed to sleep in the open if the pile of leaves were an indication.

Finding some data pads I looked them over very briefly. They had disturbing content talking about the end of this cycle and the will of their master. Making sure no one saw me I quickly wiped the entire pad and snapped it in half. Even if we left this planet someone else could have come and found this data.

Then we moved forward towards their rear. Nowhere in the rear did we find any of them so the only place they could've been was near the combat zone. The sound of gunfire grew louder as we drew closer as well as the sound of shouting. I could clearly hear Scourge's cries of victory it relieved me, to know they were winning.

Hiding behind a steel beam I peeked over it and saw the deserters losing the battle. Some were already dead laying on the ground their glassy gazes looking up into the sky. No sign of indoctrination, oddly a sense of release could be felt. We would be doing them a favour by ending their lives; it would be preferable to living as a puppet.

Up ahead there was a makeshift stage, behind which were majority of the deserters. Beside them tied up were our three hostages. Clé was near their leader, the very first deserter. The one whom Septimus had taught a harsh lesson, clearly he hadn't learned it. Clé wasn't moving most likely knocked out but her chest moved so she was breathing.

"Kenn the one on the left, Zorin the right left, I'll take out the one in the centre." I said ordering the two and aiming my gun. I closed one eye and focused the gun's sights on the leader's head. It was hard to do with him moving in and out of cover so much. But the built in targeting VI did assist me telling me where to aim on a very small screen. I then heard Kenn's gun fire; I pulled my trigger immediately followed by Zorin.

Kenn's shot managed to land home, Zorin's oddly as well. The leader was moving out of his crouch as soon as he heard the sound and my bullet flew right into his stomach. He gave a gasp turning around looking at us. His eyes weren't sane they were widened and he had some sort of twisted grin on his face.

Even though he was bleeding he picked Clé up and held the gun to her head. We froze keeping our guns trained at him. But I knew out of the three of us we weren't skilled enough to pull off an accurate shot.

"Ah so you're the one who destroyed our Lord!" He claimed chuckling, "No worries the grand master shall be informed. I will kill you all and inform him myself! Then I will become his prophet! Leading the galaxy to a glorious synthesis!"

"What the hell is wrong with him? Was it that object?" Zorin whispered disturbed by his insane talk.

"Most likely." Kenn replied and I stayed silent thinking of anyway to free her. Septimus would be here with in seconds. But this guy would act before they arrived; he was clearly screwed in his head, literally. I could actually see them moving up slowly and thankfully quietly.

"You really don't want her to scream like that Turian do you?!" He taunted and I felt my breath hitch and anger starting to take over, "I wonder if she'll scream, he sure as hell didn't."

"You will die." I muttered he clearly didn't hear me but I wasn't inclined to care. All I wanted was for this piece of shit to die a horrible death. He clearly was suffering as blood from his stomach pooled below him.

"Drop the guns." He said we stayed still, "Drop the guns!" He yelled shoving the gun into Clé's head and I reacted. I lowered my gun but the same time in an instant I grabbed my amulet and threw it towards him. The reaction was simple and expected he dropped Clé and tried to move away but only slammed his back against the beam. I heard two shots, one from me the other from Kenn. My bullet hit him in the neck and Kenn's landed in the chest.

He was dead before he hit the floor and I lowered my gun and stayed still. Kenn rushed forward, Zorin looked at me for a moment then also moved forward towards the Asari. My hands shook slightly as I took in what I had done. My gamble which I decided on in an instant could have ended Clé's life. If he hadn't reacted the way I wanted to she would be dead…But I also felt satisfied I had killed him and avenged Aetius.

"This is yours isn't it?" I heard Scourge say handing me my amulet. I took it and looked at it; the strap was magnetic so it was easy to tie around my neck again, "A sword eh? Looks like you're obsessed with them." He chuckled.

"I almost killed her for revenge." I said ignoring his comment and looking at Kenn as he picked her up, thankfully still asleep.

"She's still alive." He deadpanned, "That's all that matters." He finished walking away and just looking about the camp. His advice made sense in an odd sort of way but it didn't erase my doubt.

"What if I made the same mistake?" I muttered to myself not noticing Septimus walking up to me.

"From what I can gather she would've died if you did nothing. It was the only way." He said looking at the dead body, "The world is full of risks. Some you can't get around no matter what you do."

"But still there could've been a better way, and I felt controlled by something else."

"It was your desire to protect her."

"How can you be sure it wasn't revenge? Or hate?" I asked confused.

"You only reacted when he threatened her did you not" he said folding his arms. The realization was comforting, but I still had a hard time believing it was a protective reaction, "Either way if you did nothing, you know what would've happened."

"The galaxies a cruel place isn't it? People's lives decided upon at a whim." I muttered as he walked past me, "You've been in many situations like this haven't you?" I asked knowing only a veteran could give me advice like his.

"Too many." He replied an air of rare exhaustion about him.

* * *

We searched the place for a moment trying to find any useful things. There wasn't really much at all except for some food. We could only carry some of it back. The three hostages were all knocked out cold and Septimus predicted they would wake up in several hours. Kenn carried Clé and Scourge the other two.

The trek back home was quiet and one of relief. We hadn't suffered any casualties in the assault. The only thing that really happened was we had lost some time. But Aetius he was a casualty of their assault. Would he have survived if I had investigated the noises the first time I heard them? I chose not to dwell on it too much deciding to let him rest in peace.

Septimus had also asked about the headaches and we told him of that object.

"That cracked metal object…my scans showed nothing conclusive." Septimus mused, "Well it was a messed up situation, guess we'll never find out." I snorted inside my head thinking of the Reaper invasion that would be happening in about five years. We'd all find out what terrifying beings we would be up against.

We eventually arrived at our original camp. I quickly found a place to wind down on the cliffside overlooking the forest. In the distance you could make out the crash site to some degree. I ate some rations we recovered from their camp. The freed hostages were all still asleep as Septimus tended to them.

I eventually laid down on the grass and closed my eyes falling asleep. My dreams were about those visions from the object but thankfully it was a fuzzy memory. Still at the end of my dream I saw myself standing above a massive chasm on one side was a silver and blue sword. The other a red and black blade.

"The signal its working!" I heard Kenn shout waking me up. I groaned confused about the dream I quickly pushed it aside as I realized what Kenn said.

I quickly made my way towards the beacon it gave a beeping sound every five seconds. Kenn was quickly typing through a lot of things on his omni-tool, "The interference is gone it may have been something at their camp."

"The artifact." I said and he nodded. Made sense especially if it wanted to indoctrinate in secret.

"Most likely, that was the only thing of note in their camp."

"But it was only metal. How could it have done such powerful interference?"

"Don't know; it really was a piece of metal. Some titanium aluminum alloy nothing special." We then looked up to see Septimus walk over. He had a smile on his face.

"It's online?"

"Working perfectly." Kenn replied and the two started to talk about tech related stuff I couldn't really be bothered about. So I walked away back to my resting place.

It was very relieving to know that we may be able to get of this rock. Leave behind all the tragedies that occurred here and hopefully move on with our lives. Get Clé home and then make my own life in the galaxy.

I looked around the camp and found Zorin to be nowhere. He was talking rather intimately with the Asari I kept my distance. Turning around I bumped into Clé.

"Still woozy I see?" I smiled she looked up at me blinking rapidly.

"W-what happened?" She asked I guided her off to the side and told her a censored version of the events. She was very quiet by the end of my explanation. I had left out the fanaticism of the deserters and the artifact. But I did tell her of Aetius; death obviously not in its gory detail even I didn't want to recall it.

"Now the signal is back online." As I mentioned this she perked up. I narrowed my eyes she seemed to be doing that a lot, always being positive even though she had been through a lot, "Clé was Aetius a nice person?" I asked shocking her. She looked away from me into the sky.

"Y-yeah, he always gave me food and said it was every Turians duty to help their young." Her voice was quivering, "He even played with me once." I smiled as she said this it was amusing to think of him playing with a child.

"He was a nice guy always tough on the outside."

"He was." She said. The sky was dark as the night came upon the world with no light pollution the stars shined brilliantly. Parts of the Omega nebula could be clearly seen as this system was in it. "He reminded me of f-father. He is also tough but soft."

"Well we'll get you to him; Aetius would want you to be happy right?" I asked placing my hand on her shoulder as we both stood up, "His spirit will watch over you, so stay happy for his sake."

"I w-will!" She finished resolute. Internally I was surprised; I had gotten good at reading her and helping her. It was a good thing to help a child move past their doubts.

"Contact!" Kenn yelled as the beacon lit up.

0o0

Alliance New Network Daily Report January 16th 2181

In today's news; shocking allegations by human ambassador Udina against the Citadel Council.

In a galactic economic summit designed to discuss ways to increase growth The Alliance was not invited. For centuries only the council races attend this summit and on rare occasions the Hanar or Elcor. The event occurs every five years and humanity had asked for access five times and denied in every case.

The ambassador alleges that the council is trying to bottle neck The Alliances economic growth by not allowing them to have a say in shaping the galactic economy. "They are simply afraid of our progress. We have shaken the status quo and their desperately trying to keep it."the ambassador said at the human embassy.

The allegations come to a shock, many most pointing to the fact that the Alliance has seen unprecedented growth. Ever since making contact with the council the Alliance economic growth rate has always been above 10% per year. The closest comparison would be the Salarian Union at 3.5%. Reaching the Turian embassy for comments they said, "The Alliance is getting greedy, we've given them access to many markets. Their economy is growing the fastest yet they still complain." The Asari and Salarians declined to comment.

Humanity has been given access to the Skyllian Verge but as most know the region is very dangerous to invest in. Most of humanities growth comes from its core worlds such as; Earth, Terra Nova and Bekenstein. The Alliance wants the right to more garden worlds specifically ones near the Citadel. Those worlds are assigned at this summit and are very valuable often decades are spent negotiating them.

More on this story later.

By Emily Wong.

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**A/N: Whoop! Whoop! Almost there this arc does have one more exciting chapter left to go! Will be surprising so stay tuned!**

**What do you think of the article? Any ways to improve? Also what type of topics would you like discussed in the article?**

**Once again thanks for the amazing reviews! Stay tuned :]**


	14. Chapter 14, The Guests

**A/N: As promised the new chapter on Monday! Not much to say except thanks for the reviews! :]**

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Chapter 14: The Guests

Everyone grew excited as they huddled around the beacon. We were all gathered around Kenn who was decrypting the signal and Septimus was opening up his Omni-tool in some sort of preparation. It displayed a holographic text which displayed signal received.

"Hel-llo is an-yone aliv-ve?" a voice asked but was heavily broken up by the static, "We ha-ve received a s-signal." The voice turned slightly more coherent as Kenn did something to the beacon. I couldn't identify the voice but it did sound like a female human.

Septimus waved his Omni-tool over the beacon and started to type on it very fast. He seemed to be very serious but the reason was eluding me.

"Is a-anyone alive?" the voice asked again sounding much more feminine, but I could swear I heard an artificial undertone to it. Nobody else seemed to have noticed as they were busy waiting for Septimus to say something.

"Wait, I'm analysing the voice," he explained and I looked at his hologram there were a series of graphs which he seemed to be analysing. There were three distinct graphs the two on the bottom seemed to be related to the top one somehow.

"Destructive interference?" I asked him remembering it from my physics class. When two waves met each other and they cancelled each other out to some degree it was destructive. A gross over simplification but that was the general gist. Septimus gave a nod as he continued to overlay them.

"Ah voice modulation, I should've thought of that." Kenn surmised.

"So they could be slavers?" Scourge asked as he did I gave a slight flinch along with Kenn and Clé. She moved closer to me and I placed my hand on her shoulder giving it a squeeze, "Well I'd like to see them try to take me I'll ground them into the dirt!" He laughed I also smiled. We would fight; being a slave was not something I would like to repeat. Unconsciously I moved my hand to my neck 'tattoo'.

"It's a fake," Septimus said and played the original audio file. The voice was very distinct a Batarian as I heard his voice I felt anger gather in my body. To manipulate a desperate folk so easily for their own gain, it was disgusting, "Don't reply no matter what they'll be coming down to check up just in case."

"What do we do?" Kenn asked as we followed Septimus to the cliff side. He seemed to be looking at the crash site, "They will have shuttles won't they?"

"As well as a frigate, even if we take the shuttle they'll still be able to shoot us down," he explained.

"We'll have to lure it down," I stated that being the only logical choice. We couldn't lure them out of the system no matter what so luring them in was the last option. But bringing down a frigate would be difficult, "The question is, how we do it?"

"First order of business is to clear this camp. We need to stay hidden and strike when they let their guard down," Septimus said and we all started to move about the camp throwing things off the cliff into the woods. The fire place was broken up I threw several pieces into the woods, Scourge kicked up a lot of dirt over the ashes. The meat was carefully thrown over the cliff in one area, if scattered animals would be all over the place.

Thankfully during the assault most of the stuff had been torn apart. After several minutes of fast paced movement we had cleared the entire area. It now looked as empty as it did when we first arrived; there were faint signs of habitation, such as creases on the ground but it looked good.

Scourge picked up the beacon as we followed Septimus down the hill and into the woods. Walking for several minutes we stopped in a small shaded clearing. There were about eleven of us in total: four Turians, an Asari, Zorin, Scourge, Kenn, me, Clé and Joseph the other human.

"First order of business is to get them to bring down the frigate. Not that difficult just inflate our numbers when responding to them. They might come down on it anyway for security," Septimus said as most sat down on the forest floor, "Problem is they'll be on guard and have several shuttles."

"Why don't we take the shuttles instead? They'll have smaller teams on them making them easier to ambush," Kenn supplied opening up a 3-d projection with a map of our surrounding area. The key locations were marked: our camp, the fanatic's camp and the crash site.

"That does make sense; they'll land at the location of the beacon and explore the surroundings on shuttles," I said then pointed to the other camp. "They'll head to that camp most likely with their frigate being at the crash site," I finished pointing at it.

"Seems reasonable now we need to find a way to lure out the frigate delaying it will be pointless as it'll catch up to the shuttles," Septimus nodded.

"How do we take out a frigate?" Kenn asked skeptical, "Batarian slavers use the BHS A1 Trident, not the best ship around it'll be forced to turn off its kinetic barriers and shields while on the planet."

"Why?" I asked interested.

"The ship needs to reduce it mass to land safely on the planet and to take off. That requires energy if that energy is spent on the shields it won't be able to take off for several hours," he explained. "Basically a horrible engine most military ships don't have that issue with frigates as they have very powerful drive cores." It did make sense I also remembered that Reaper destroyers had to deactivate or weaken their kinetic barriers while on a planet.

"Still we don't have powerful weaponry that can take it out even with shields down," Septimus sighed. Everyone was silent as we pondered what to do.

"Why not blow it up?" Clé suggested and there were amused chuckles around the group. She looked irritated then looked at me, "Can't engines blow up?" My eyes widened as I nearly fell on my back.

"The crashed drive core is intact," I said mentally hitting myself in the head.

"We could rig it to blow up," Scourge caught on and was grinning. "I've rigged shuttle cores to blow up so this shouldn't be that different." This was sounding very similar to the plan on Virmire only difference was that we had the head start.

"The only problem is time, whoever does this will be right next to the enemy," Septimus stressed drawing a triangle by the crash site. "That's where they'll land beacon or not. The drive core is right in the middle all that will separate the team from the enemy will be a few broken pieces of steel."

"There's also the problem of time. Making a device blow up isn't a quick process," Kenn said. "It'll take about an hour."

"There isn't really any other option left," Septimus walked around the hologram. "We'll need a team to capture their shuttles when they arrive near the fanatics. I'll lead that team to capture the shuttles come to this location to pick up the non-combatants then the explosive team."

"Who's on which team?" I asked.

"We Turians will get the shuttles. Scourge and Kenn will go fix up that bomb. Khan you work well with them so you'll provide them covering fire if the frigate lands," I raised an eyebrow, but then relented those two would need someone to protect them while they tinkered with the drive core. "You four stay here," he pointed at: Clé, the Asari, Zorin and Joseph. The four gave nods although Clé was hesitant.

"So we take the beacon to the crash site and activate it when the bombs at completion?" I asked and Septimus nodded.

"Yes but after they land let them take off in the shuttles then set the timer for ten minutes. Stay low if possible or hold out as long as you can."

"Trusting a Turian with my hide, at least I can make a multi kiloton bomb," Scourge muttered annoyed at the first issue but excited for blowing up an engine.

"The yield will depend on the amount of eezo left in it," Kenn said. "At best 3 kilotons which will be more than enough to take out a frigate."

"The engine's exposed so it'll be easier to work on it," Scourge said lifting the beacon as we checked our weapons. I gave him a confused look and he responded, "If it was still part of the frigate it would be nearly impossible to rig it, too many safety features," I nodded in understanding. If a terrorist wanted to use a drive core they'd have to detach it from the ship. Not exactly a stealthy thing to do.

I looked at Clé and nodded at her, "Just this mission then we'll go straight to your dad." She gave a nod.

"Promise?" She asked holding out her hand I shook it and gave a firm nod.

* * *

Arriving at the crash site Scourge slammed the beacon into the ground near the engine. I felt a great sense of unease as we arrived. I had nearly died here so I wasn't exactly fond of the place. I could even locate where I had woken up.

The two walked up to the drive core which was housed inside a three by five meter casing. Kenn produced something from his Omni-tool and began to cut the side open. It looked like a mini Omni-blade very small only an inch long. Once it was cut he removed the metal and inside was the core.

A small spherical object sitting atop an open ended cylinder, it was black in colour and many wires were running into it. It didn't look as clean as the Normandy's; this one had a very fragile and lackluster feeling to it.

Part of me was astounded such a small object was powering the Batarian frigate, but another part reasoned it was a weak one for a weak ship. The Normandy's core was massive in comparison it really did dawn on me that it was a state of the art ship for a reason.

Kenn quickly went about pressing several switches while cutting wires. Scourge also started to something similar, he rearranged the cut wires feeding them all into one hole. Whatever he was doing it didn't seem safe but Kenn wasn't complaining.

"How will you guys go about turning an engine into a bomb?" I asked curious as I sat down on a nearby beam.

"We'll have to condense all that eezo using some of it to initiate a mini centrifuge in the engine," Kenn muttered busy working. "Before that is done we need to repair this engine."

"After that we'll make it unstable then spend our time calibrating the damn thing," Scourge replied in tandem.

"Calibrations will take up most of the time as we have to ensure the optimal amount of power is sent into the core."

"Fixing the engine five minutes, prepping the eezo about ten minutes, lastly the calibrations half an hour."

"Last phase will be to do a contained reaction-," Kenn finished then suddenly he and Scourge jolted up looking at each other horrified. "Khan were we really completing each other's sentences?" he muttered horrified. I had to bite back my laugh; the two working together outside of combat was an odd but amusing sight.

"Looks like you two are getting closer," I chuckled as both gave grumbles and resumed their work. Meanwhile I looked around the place.

Some beams were missing having been dragged to the fanatic's camp. Other than that the area was in the same state as before. There was slight undergrowth creeping towards the crash site but mostly at the borders.

If everything went well we would be off this planet in about an hour or so. Off this planet and straight towards council space, I didn't even want to pit stop at Omega. We would arrive on Illium then straight towards the Citadel after that Palaven.

I still didn't know what I was going to do after Clé's return. I did want to join Shepard's crew my knowledge was too valuable to be wasted. But I was nobody in this universe just a runaway slave in the eyes of the public.

I could join the military as being a slave and surviving on this planet had kept me in shape. But I hadn't gotten much food so my muscles hadn't properly recovered. Another issue was my genetics; Alliance spec ops had gene therapy to become faster and stronger than the norm. It would cost a lot of money to get, money which I didn't have.

C-sec seemed a reasonable option but it sounded so cliché, in all the self inserts I had read or a majority of them that was exactly what happened. That or becoming a mercenary, but those guys had the benefits of instant powers. I had no such thing only a more hardened mind it seemed.

I then grasped my amulet, the blade resting on my palm. Its silvery blue sheen seemed to calm me whenever I saw it. I did have this artifact that had stopped my indoctrination, and also allowed me to destroy that artifact.

It only made me feel more confused as I didn't know my purpose in this universe. Even if I were to sit by and do nothing Shepard would unite the galaxy against the reapers and all would end well depending on her choice. It all depended on what she chose at the end and none of the four choices were satisfactory, but could I create another one? Was that my purpose here to give the galaxy a better alternative than the paths presented to it by the crucible?

The idea made me give a sardonic smile, I who was brought here by a God with an extremely powerful artifact was supposed to save the galaxy. All while I had nothing to my name, any talents, weapons or resources. Just one very interesting amulet whose purpose I could only slightly understand.

I heard a humming noise and saw a blue glow from the core. Scourge twisted some wires and tapped his Omni-tool and the noise died down but the core was still glowing blue. The two looked very odd working in almost perfect synchronization. As Kenn moved left Scourge went right, one up the other down both confident in what they were doing.

The beacon suddenly turned on, "Hel-llo we have located the cr-ash site. If y-you are alive gather at its edge," the same female voice said. I looked at the two as they shook their heads.

"We still need several minutes," Kenn said as he resumed working. "Distract them do something!" he finished voice urgent. I quickly made my way to the beacon and pressed the reply button.

"Hello are you rescuers?" I asked making my voice sound nervous. Back at home I had won several awards for acting so I could act naïve if necessary, "Hello is anyone there?"

"Yes! W-we can here you loud and clear where are you?" the voice asked much more energetic. No doubt for some brand new slaves.

"I d-don't know we crashed on this planet and have barely survived."

"Okay can you tell us where you are? We've been in orbit for nearly an hour."

"I don't know most of us are scared, it'll take time for them to gather."

"Well c-ould you have everyone arrive near the crash site?"

"U-uh sure it'll take time because we are far away," I lied.

"Don't worry we'll be down in about half an hour," the person replied trying to sound reassuring.

"Ok! Please stay up there I'll gather every one! Please wait for us!" I shouted.

"Don't worry we will," As soon as that was said I disconnected the beacon and walked over to them. That last line was chilling and I could feel the grin on the Batarians face.

"Pretty good acting, when are they coming?" Kenn asked ignoring me as I crouched down next to him.

"Half an hour but I wouldn't trust them, finish as quickly as possible," he gave a grunt as both somehow started to move even faster than before.

I kept my eyes on the sky watching for any sign of a ship. The next few minutes passed in a tense silence only the sound of sparks filling the air. I had my gun out and ready not that it would be that useful. I then heard a very sharp crack from the engine and Scourge's triumphant laugh.

"Done she should be ready to blow up!" he laughed standing up, "Will pack a hell of a punch, didn't know a Quarian could optimize a bomb so well."

"I never thought you could pull out three and a half kilotons out of this core," he said patting it and a small smile behind his mask. "So are these slavers going to arrive?"

"Yeah we just tell them to do so wait for their shuttles to take off then stall for ten minutes," I explained and we walked over to the beacon turning it on.

"Hello! Are you all at the crash site?" the 'woman' asked.

"Not all of us but most are here," I lied and the other two stayed silent. "You can come down with your ship there will be a lot of us."

"Just wait we'll be there in about five minutes," and the line cut.

"What the hell now?" Scourge asked. I gave a nervous gulp as I realized what was about to happen. Just the three of us would have to stall the slavers for ten minutes. But the others were depending on us.

"As soon as the ship lands turn on the timer," I said my voice shaking slightly. "No, turn it on as soon as the shuttles head for that camp. Then you need to open fire on them take out as many then move into cover and stay alive for ten minutes."

"If we survive this I think I'll join the Migrant Fleet Marines," Kenn said knowing the odds were stacked against us.

"If I do I should become a warlord…warlord Scrouge I like the sound of it," Scourge smiled. "Leading the Krogans as their technocratic leader."

"Even if we die at least the shuttles will be in Septimus' hands. The others will make it out," I said looking up, "If they are hostile what should be our signal to act?"

"A shoulder gesture, be it a scratch or pat," Scourge replied. "Kenn send Khan the detonation mechanism."

"Well just open this program to detonate the bomb," Kenn said and sent it over to me it flashed on my Omni-tool and was labelled as, 'Boom'. "If there is no other option left do it."

"Same to you," I said and then saw a black spec approaching our location from the sky. The dot grew larger and slowly I could make out a shape. It was very similar to the frigate that had attacked us. I could see the cannons mounted to its side.

I waved my hands in the air pointing towards the side away from the engine. It did make sense since it was flat in that direction. The ship landed as I quickly moved away staying away from the thrusters. The sound was loud sounding like an aircraft engine although a little quite in comparison.

The craft was the size of the first Normandy, though it was much more bulky and had harsh edges. The colour was brown and no markings were on it, most likely hidden. It landed on landing pads and suddenly the noise died down.

The back door opened, it seemed like a ramp as it lowered to the ground. Then out came several different alien species. There were: five Batarians, three Turian, two Salarians and a Krogan…

"So you're the survivors," the Krogan rumbled, he wore Bloodpack armour and carried a large shotgun on his back. "Where are the others?" he looked around then back at me with his red eyes.

"U-up north several kilometers in an open plain," I stuttered glancing at the other 'rescuers'. Only the Krogan had the armour and one of the Batarians. The Krogan glanced at my sword; I had hidden my pistol on my back.

"Tarag take a shuttle and bring them here," the Krogan ordered and the armoured Batarian left with nearly half of them. The shuttle roared over us and soon vanished from site. It wasn't like the alliance Kodiak, this one was smaller and more boxy than that if possible. Now there was only the Krogan, two Batarians, two Turian and a Salarian.

"When will they be back?" I asked distracting him as Kenn activated the timer from his Omni-tool. As he did so I felt a sense of finality settle and now knew I had to succeed no matter what may happen.

"About five minutes," he muttered and then looked at Scourge. "Why so small for a Krogan runt?" he asked smirking. Scourge to his credit stayed calm.

"Gives my body more energy to focus on thinking, brute," he said walking up to him and patting my shoulder along the way. I tensed and put my hand behind my back reaching for my pistol. No one noticed too focused on Scourge. He was a full foot shorter than the other Krogan who gave a laugh.

"I love breaking people like you," he leered face centimeters away from Scourge.

Suddenly Scourge grabbed my sword by the hilt pulling it out he jammed it into the Krogan's head plate from the bottom. The other Krogan had attempted to reach for his shotgun but Scourge gave a roar and stabbed the sword fully into the plate. He then twisted it and the plate flew of the Krogans head, blood sprayed everywhere the other Krogan was screaming in pain falling to his knees. Scourge immediately stabbed the sword through the soft skin beneath the plate and the Krogan leader fell down dead.

Everyone was frozen in shock but as soon as Scourge made eye contact with me I grabbed my gun and aimed at the nearest Salarian and fired. The shot hit his shoulder and I jumped behind a beam Scourge leapt behind one parallel to me. I didn't know where Kenn was presumably also behind cover.

They all fired at us but the cover protected us from the assault. I looked down at my Omni-tool and it read, 7:11. We had to hold out for seven minutes, only seven minutes but the task felt daunting to me. We had to fight against several armed hostiles and even more inside the ship.

"Leader down we need back up!" The Turian shouted into the frigate but as soon as he turned around his face blew up. Kenn had been hiding and had fired a very well-aimed shot taking him out. Two were out and I had injured a third. Three combat capable enemies and more were coming from inside the ship.

I moved out of cover and ducked as all the shots raced towards me. The sound of the bullets ricocheting of the steel was deafening especially right next to my ears. Then Scourge took the opportunity to move out of cover and fire at the slavers. He took out the Salarian and made a run for my location.

I moved out of cover and provided suppressing fire. I fired towards the two Batarians who were scrambling towards cover. We had that advantage for the moment; they were in the open until they could get behind their ramp. I kept firing and ducked as soon as the Turian turned his attention towards me.

Scourge came up right next to me smiling he gave me my sword which was drenched in blood.

"Not many blades have torn of a Krogan head plate, you should be proud," he muttered readying his assault rifle. "We've got six minutes until the bomb blows up."

"More are coming out already," I muttered glancing over our cover and quickly ducking. "Three Batarians and a Turian."

Scourge moved out of cover and fired at them with his assault rifle. They hid behind crates in their loading bay. I quietly moved around the beam to the side and moved out slowly. I carefully aimed my gun at the Batarian waiting for his gun to cool down. I fired and immediately ducked moving towards a different location. I heard nothing so I didn't know if my shot had landed.

I didn't know what Scourge was doing but he was succeeding judging by his laughs and the enemies screams. Finding another location I peeked over the steel and saw the Batarian dead, his partner had his sub machine gun aimed at my previous location.

I moved out to aim but then he spotted me and fired. I ducked narrowly avoiding the hail of death breathing heavily I crawled to another spot. But as soon as I moved up bullets flew towards me. I barley ducked again and cursed, the guy was tracking me now.

"So much trouble for a ratsuit, pyjak and brute!" one of the slavers complained loudly to another.

I was stuck in my position and didn't know what to do. I looked over towards Scourge who was singlehandedly suppressing the ones inside the frigate. He prevented them from getting out of it. Then I saw Kenn in the rear aiming his pistol carefully and not really firing.

I saw him glance towards me and suddenly my Omni-tool buzzed. Quickly putting on the head phones Kenn's voice rang through them.

"Khan you need help?" he asked.

"Yeah a Batarian behind the left end of the ramp, he's not letting me move out of cover," I muttered. After several seconds of silence he responded.

"Got him, I'll suppress him you take him out," he said and I heard several shots. I moved out to see the Batarian duck behind the ramp. He didn't pay attention to me too busy moving into cover, I fired four shots the first two missed, but the other two hit him in the neck and torso. He fell down dead but then I felt pain burst from my shoulder as I fell down.

I had spent top long admiring my kill and the other Turian had fired a round into my shoulder. It hurt a lot and I did scream out in pain. It was already bleeding and I really wished I had a shield.

"You okay!?" Kenn shouted which hurt my ears even more. I blinked my eyes several times and gritted my teeth.

"G-got hit the shoulder!" I heaved finally laying against the cover as opposed to my back. "Left shoulder I can still aim."

"More enemies are coming out come towards the bomb," Kenn urged, I couldn't really see them as I was perpendicular to the landing pad. "I'll provide suppression," cue his gunshots.

I quickly ran towards my first location and some bullets were fired towards me. I had to jump into cover and land on my godforsaken shoulder of all things. Wincing I leaned against the beam. Scourge crouched down and gave me a glance.

"Only a scratch," he commented.

"I'm not a Krogan!" I hissed feeling angry; he nodded in understanding and resumed suppressing them. He was also bleeding in several places but didn't seem too concerned. Krogan physiology was beyond my comprehension.

Ignoring my pain I also aided Scourge and actually landed a hit on another Batarian's hip. He fell down and Scourge finished him off. Kenn's precise shots were giving us leeway until they realized Kenn's location. One thing became apparent as the fight dragged on. We were losing as we got pushed back closer to the core.

"Four minutes until boom," Scourge laughed as we dashed across the field toward the core. Sliding into it my leg got cut by a piece of metal. It was night time so seeing was more than difficult, a good and bad thing. Whoever fired a shot might as well hold up a shoot me sign due to the bright muzzle flares.

"Fucking hell!" I shouted angry but by now the adrenaline was in full force and the pain was numbed somewhat. Eventually all three of us were next to the drive core as we couldn't afford to move back. We held our ground and kept firing.

Kenn got shot in his right leg as he rushed to another spot in an attempt to flank them. We were outnumbered now by three to nine. I had also the pleasure to get hit in the same location causing even more bleeding.

Ducking I tore off my sleeve and quickly tied it around the area tightly. I felt hopelessness fill me there were only three minutes left, each passing second mocked me. Telling me I was a pathetic individual not fit to save anything.

Doubt entered me as I thought Septimus might have escaped already. Maybe we were just a distraction so everyone else could escape. At the very least Clé would be alive…

"Is this really it?" I whispered, Kenn who was by now beside us looked at me. "Never thought I'd die so young, I really wanted to see the galaxy."

"Who said about not seeing it?" Kenn said giving me a firm shake. "We won't die we have to live!"

"How the hell can we survive this!? We're not Spectres!" I shouted angry then I felt the most powerful fist in my life. Scourge punched me across the face as he waited for his gun to cool down.

"Fool! If you think your dead then I can end your life for you!" he then slammed me into the beam. "But if anyone dies it's because you didn't pull your act together!" I lay their still watching the timer, two minutes.

I suddenly felt ashamed realizing I had almost doomed us by giving up. My lips quivered but then stopped looking up I saw those stars looking down at me. They were up there waiting for me.

"Guess we'll give them all we've got," I said and the other two gave enthusiastic nods.

"Hell yes we will! Our lives mean something!" Scourge shouted.

"Me convincing you to stay strong, odd occurrence," Kenn smirked beneath his cracked helmet. That was a first.

With only two minutes on the clock we all moved out of cover and started to give them everything we had. I didn't know what drove us: desperation, pride or just instinct. We wouldn't be able to push them back but making them pay dearly was an option we would take.

There were nine of them and we kept firing moving into cover and moving up. They were shocked by the brazen nature of our tactic giving us the opportunity to take some of them out. But soon they regained their senses and started to fire upon us.

I felt another round cut into my other shoulder I fell onto the ground on my knees both arms limp to my side. I didn't know where the other two were, all I knew was that these few seconds would be my last moments.

I saw the Batarian lift his gun a pistol. He had green skin black eyes with a hint of brown. They were full of malice for the comrades I had killed, friends that would forever be lost.

I then closed my eyes.

I felt regret for not being able to see Clé's smiling face as she would reunite with her father. Regret for not helping Scourge open up a tech shop. Regret for getting Kenn to the Migrant fleet. But I had managed to take them this far, maybe that was enough.

Suddenly a loud cracking sound like a thunder clap forced me to open my eyes. Ahead of me the Batarian fell down head gone. Then the sounds of an engine greeted my ears, turning around several meters off the ground and descending was the shuttle. Its thrusters lighting up the entire area creating very odd shadows with the twisted metal all over the place, I felt my dread erase and be replaced with courage.

The doors were open and Septimus and the other Turians were firing down upon the slavers. It landed as the timer hit forty five seconds. I knew what I had to do, forcing myself to stand up I started to run for the shuttle. My bleeding leg made it difficult but I pressed on.

Kenn and Scourge both jumped in the shuttle lurching slightly down. I felt bullets race behind me as I rushed forward. Septimus was on the ground expertly firing shots, his shields flickered several times but he didn't pay them much heed.

Arriving at the shuttle I jumped in and hit the other end. Septimus quickly entered and the shuttle moved up at a very high speed as the door closed. I straightened myself as he came over and applied medi-gel on my wounds.

I couldn't hear what he was saying; I could briefly see Clé next to me and the other Turians tending to Scourge and Kenn. Relief filled me as I raised my arm with great difficulty to see the timer one last time.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one; I counted down in my head. As soon as it hit one I could hear the massive boom. The shuttle shook slightly but soon instead of clouds I saw stars from the window.

My eyes felt weak and eventually I fell asleep content and safe.

0o0

A report on the capabilities of Batarian slavers and how to counter them

Batarian slavers have ravaged humanities colonies ever since they were first set up. They frequently assault Alliance colonies in the Skyllian verge or independent ones in the Terminus systems.

These attacks usually happen on the frontier settlements and are lightning fast. They typically consist of two or three frigates, usually the BHS A1 Tridents as dubbed by the Alliance. These ships are very fast and hard hitting but have almost no defenses. They can't harm a standard Alliance frigate but can annoy it for a long period of time. During that period the other two land and assault the colonists.

Newer colonies don't have anti-aircraft batteries hence giving the slavers air superiority. They use the mounted guns to destroy the garrisons then round up the colonists. In terms of equipment most slavers have no body armour and only one or two basic weapons such as: pistols, SMGs and assault rifles.

They leave usually under half an hour into Terminus space where the Alliance military can't pursue them.

The problem is the size of Humanities presence in comparison to its military. Although the Alliance military is extremely formidable it isn't large enough to protect the outer colonies without compromising core systems. Humanity has expanded extremely rapidly being about 40% as large as the Hierarchy in territories, over half being the verge. In comparison the Hierarchy's military outnumbers the Alliance 4:1.

The most immediate course of action should be to install anti-aircraft batteries on all frontier colonies. Then over the course of time rapidly build up the Destroyer fleets. These ships are small yet powerful enough to deal with any slaver ship. Along with that these mini fleets should be centered on a Cruiser instead of a Dreadnought due to Council restrictions.

A carrier as the flagship of the entire patrol fleet would be preferred as it would be able to command an entire system with its strike aircraft. These planes move faster than the Tridents and can easily puncture holes in them.

A study done by The Human Systems Alliance Department of Defence

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**A/N: Finally the crash landing arc is done! Almost to the Citadel first a brief stop at Illium then the massive space station! Have a great day and I'll try to get the next chapter out quickly! :]**


	15. The End

**The End**

Hello everyone! I have an unfortunate announcement to make. I will be discontinuing 'Dawn by Fire.' The main reason is that I don't find it fun to write the story anymore. I slog through each chapter trying to finish it; it's a job rather than a hobby now.

University is also about to start and mine is infamous for its harsh marking…

This story started as an experiment to see how writing is, a test project. I only thought I'd get 10 or 15 reviews, but with 57 and over 8000 hits, I feel great!

Lastly I do feel that I can tell you where I would've taken the story. Below is a rough outline I had created. It is very rough and obviously contains many spoilers.

Story outline

The group would soon leave Illium after discussions with Septimus, who reveals himself as a spectre. The story would cover the shuttle ride and soon the arrival.

Upon arriving everyone save for Khan will get through the checkpoints easily (Clé isn't identified as missing due to trillions of files in the system. Her file flag had been redacted a few weeks ago) . Khan doesn't have an ID and is brought to the human embassy. There he receives Alliance citizenship and benefits, because he is a former slave. He will receive 5000 credits a month for a year, until he lands a job.

Khan will then present the Alliance with James' dog tag. James will be revealed to be the Butcher of Torfan who went missing a few months after the incident. Khan will inform them that he died an honorable death and deserves commendation regardless of what he did.

Clé will be sick and Kenn takes her to a clinic. Khan and Scourge explore the Citadel marveling at its sites. Both of them will attempt to contact Clé and Kenn but they won't succeed. Will search various clinics and eventually contact C-sec who assists in their search. They still won't succeed but on a hunch rush for Saelon's clinic. He'll go there after Scourge loudly demands its location from an officer. Garrus will overhear it and help the two. They will arrive at the clinic but due to Khan's stupidity and Scourge's brazen nature all three will be incapacitated.

They wake up in a ship to find Saelon escaping the citadel. Garrus escapes form cage and frees everyone else including Clé and Kenn. They will move through the ship retake the gear and take out Saelon. Khan will manage to convince Garrus to not kill him.

They divert the ship to Palaven as its close by. As they land at the capital (Has a large radiation shield) Clé will rush towards the parliament building. Everyone else follows her and Clé goes through a security checkpoint easily while Khan and the rest are stopped.

There will be Turian generals exiting the area Clé will rush towards one and hug him tight. Clé's father is a Turian general, the one in charge of Black Watch. He'll thank everyone greatly and offer them any compensation.

Kenn and Scourge would like a shop on the citadel and Clé's father gets them some space. Khan wants a job and her father using his contacts lands him in the CIA, the Council Intelligence Agency.

Now starts the second half of the story. The CIA is headed by a Salarian spectre who accepts Khan and sends him on a dangerous mission as a test. Khan barley survives and is assigned under a senior Asari operative.

She becomes his mentor as the two do missions together. Khan will do several missions, some involving assisting C-sec and Garrus by extension. Khan and his mentor will develop a close relationship as the months go on, a sibling type relationship. She will teach him martial arts and how to defeat Biotics at close range. Garrus will be an acquaintance at the moment but gradually become a friends. Scourge and Kenn will have a shop and supply him with gear (The shop is also a Black watch front).

Suddenly agents will start dying and files go missing. Khan and his mentor are assigned to find the culprit.

After 8 months in the CIA Khan will be invited to his mentor's house for dinner. Not an unusual occurrence but this time Khan catches a glimpse of her data pad. He finds out she is an agent of the shadow broker.

He will leave and inform his boss who will tell him to eliminate her. Khan has qualms but is told he'll be killed if he doesn't kill her. Khan will find out she's going to Bekenstein and is ordered to kill her there. He'll arrive and find her in disguise killing a prominent businessman. Will give her chase and eventually the two will fight each other at close range. Khan will use the very techniques she taught him to fight her, in the end he will kill her by stabbing himself with his sword in a non-vital area such that the blade will pierce the Asari's heart and kill her.

Khan will be given paid leave for two weeks and get drunk. Garrus, Scourge and Kenn will pull him out of his misery and give him a pep talk. Khan will then do more assignments being much quieter and more focused. Almost a renegade, but a surprise visit from Clé restores his inner paragon.

After several months Khan will do his last major assignment before Eden Prime. It will involve taking out one of the biggest Slave lords in the galaxy. There are five in total Khan will assassinate one. The assault will end in a bang, involving a frigate ramming into a cruiser.

The months will pass and Khan will receive a request from Garrus one day. He'll ask him to look into Saren and Khan realizes it is time. He will end up storming Fists hideout alongside Garrus, the two will be interrogating him when Shepard arrives.

Mass effect 1 starts.

Here I run into a problem of not knowing what to write. Overall canon wouldn't change much. On Virmire Kaiden dies and Wrex is saved, the council is saved as well.

In terms of relationships, Khan is closest to Garrus. The two are frequently in the same fire team. Khan is a close combat and long range specialist. He's good with a sniper and CQC. He doesn't perform well at midrange and relies on squad mates as a result.

Wrex doesn't like Khan treating him the same as Garrus. But he grows slight respect for him when Khan tears a Krogan's head plate off.

Ashley doesn't trust Khan along with most of the other personnel. He's an intelligence agent and hence not to be trusted. Khan also insults Ashley's view on xenophobia frequently. He gains her respect after taking a bullet in the head for her. He loses an eye and gains a cybernetic one.

Kaiden is an older brother to him. At first he is wary but manages to see through Khan's quiet demeanour. He frequently leads the fire team Khan is usually on (This fire team does side quests and DLC missions if possible).

Tali respects Khan after he tells her he has a Quarian friend. She relates to him as both are not trusted by the crew. He is also the second youngest on board; the two develop a sibling bond.

Liara is wary of Khan due to his rather stoic nature. She is interested in his amulet saying she saw a carving of it in a Prothean ruin. He doesn't let her use it for the sake of keeping stability in the plot.

Shepard is open to Khan respecting his abilities. She does keep an eye on him but eventually grows to trust him. Khan does intervene sometimes in certain decisions causing friction between the two, but she usually sees the logic behind his motives. She's the first after Garrus to learn of his past while he is being operated on (She sees the scars). Grows more sympathetic towards him and the two develop a sense of camaraderie.

Joker makes fun of Khan referring to him as a robot, due to his stoic nature. But when alone the two trade sarcastic comments.

Khan will learn that his artifact is an anti-indoctrination device (Will happen in a situation similar to the artifact found when stranded on that planet, in this case he'll speak to Sovereign who marks him as a prime threat).

Mass effect 1 ends the two year gap begins.

Khan will feel uneasy over Shepards death, but before it happens she recommends him for Spectre (Is approached by Councilor Udina about it). The CIA chief approves along with Septimus. With three recommendations Khan is put under Septimus (The motivations behind making Khan a Spectre is done purely for political purposes. After the Geth attack Humanity gains great influence, in order to appease them the Council offers them another Spectre, humanity accepts. But Khan is loyal to the Council first not the Alliance, hence why the other councillors support the recommendation. They appease humanity and gain another loyal Spectre, two birds with one stone. )

For a year Khan trains under Septimus and becomes a Spectre. Garrus also becomes one alongside him, after he convinces him to not go to Omega.

Will go about the Galaxy raising awareness on the Reapers and doing multiple assignments for the council.

Mass Effect 2

Khan and Garrus meet Shepard while talking to Aria. They assist her in recruiting Mordin and join her crew.

Again I don't have much planned here in terms of plot. The relationships are kind of down.

Garrus and Khan remain pals. As Spectres they are both respected by the crew much more.

Shepard is friendly towards Khan as he is one of the few people she can trust on the ship.

Tali enjoys his company as he is almost an older brother to her.

Miranda is suspicious of Khan at all times; the two will have many philosophical debates about Cerberus and morality. In the end she will respect him.

Jacob respects him for what he has become, from nothing to a Spectre.

Mordin finds Khan inexperienced and teaches him a few tricks of the trade in intelligence.

Jack insults him a lot calling him a wuss, but Khan's calmness in the face of her assaults irks her greatly.

Grunt is Grunt…

Kasumi is very curious about him and frequently pokes fun at him.

Samara respects him for staying just in the face of life's hardships.

Thane finds Khan's fighting style similar to his and teaches him many combat techniques and the two become good friends.

Zaeed likes his efficiency in combat and the two share many stories, Zaeed obviously shares way more.

Legion finds Khan intriguing especially his pendant. After Shepard Khan is the friendliest towards Legion.

EDI will also be surprised by Khan's acceptance and appreciate him for it.

Will learn more about the Amulet from Harbinger and in the suicide mission everyone survives.

Mass Effect 3

Really don't know what would happen here…Might have ended with Khan sacrificing himself at crucible instead of Shepard. In the ending the Reapers and Leviathans would die off. This would happen due to his amulet. The ending would have a hopeful tone as Alcadeias would reappear and guide Khan to his next life.

* * *

Well this is a very rough outline as to what would have happened. Not much, but it is all I have.

Thanks to all my readers and I hope you live great lives!

:]


End file.
